The Appetite for Souls
by Native Avenger
Summary: Greed can be a terrible thing. Greed caused the mighty Smaug to take control of Erabor in Middle-Earth and for humanity to be plagued by the Old One in Boletaria. But what happens when the boundary between both worlds begins to fade away? Will the heroes of both worlds fight against the upcoming evil that threatens both lands... or have the demons found their new slaves?
1. Of Demons and Hobbits

**Kwai kwai nidobak! In case any of you were wondering, that means "hello, friends" in the Abenaki language; my native language. As you readers could probably guess, this story is a crossover between the Hobbit movies/book and Demon's Souls. I've wanted to write this story since I watched The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Whether you're here because this involves the Hobbit or Demon's Souls, I will do my best to appease both crowds and I'll make sure to explain the lore of both series. Also, this story WILL include spoilers to both Demon's Souls and the Hobbit. I figured that it would be best to mention that. This story takes place about halfway through the Hobbit and after twelve demons have been slain in Demon's Souls, including the infamous tutorial boss that usually kills players in one hit. Now then, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 1: Of Demons and Hobbits

_On the first day_

_man was granted a soul._

_And with it, clarity._

_On the second day_

_upon Earth was planted_

_an irrevocable poison._

_A soul-devouring demon…_

_- Demon's Souls_

* * *

There was not an inch of sunlight that peered into the lonely Nexus and the only thing that supplied the hidden temple with light was candles. Time was meaningless in this place and it provided a place of safety for those who had nowhere else to go. The stone floors and walls protected the new residents from the Demons of the colorless fog. And the wandering Maiden in Black that kept the candles lit brought both a sense of peace and dread to the few people staying within the Nexus.

A few people could be seen scattered throughout the Nexus. On one side of the Nexus, the priests of God could be seen praying while on the other side of the large room, the magicians studied the Soul Arts. There was also a blacksmith and a man with large storage bags around him in the center of the room. A little ways away from the two rather ordinary men, a circular opening in the floor could be seen, but a magical barrier with gold symbols covered the opening, which functioned as a floor.

A set of stairs circled around the magical floor in a set of two. The set of stairs closer to the magical floor led to six rectangular stones that were almost twice as tall as the average man, but one of them was shattered to pieces. The second set of stairs led to a much higher section of the Nexus, the home of the legendary Monumental.

The five stone structures around the first section of stairs were created from magic and they each had a different image carved into them. In order from left to right, the images were a king with a golden crown, a bald king with a long beard, a wise looking queen, a shadowed man with a circular shaped hat, and a chieftain wearing some kind of bird mask. These five structures were known as the Archstones and they allowed people to quickly travel to different lands within the world just by touching the stones' surface.

In front of the Archstone of the bearded king, a greenish blue colored mist appeared in the shape of a human body. Soon a human man materialized in front of the stone structure and he took a step forward, his steel armor clanking with each movement. He was completely encased in the fluted armor, which protected him greatly from the blunt of physical attacks. The only organic parts of his that could be seen was his eyes and a little bit of his nose at a certain angle within his helmet's eye slits. His eyes appeared to be dark brown, which looked black from a distance. This man was a knight who, judging by his armor; was from the land of Latria, just south of the Kingdom of Boletaria.

In the knight's rightt hand, he was holding a Knight's Sword. The blade was straight and as sharp as a razor, yet thick enough to hit its mark quite a few times without dulling. He was also carrying a Dark Silver Shield in his left hand. The shield was shaped somewhat like a kite and there were markings all over its surface. It also held a slight golden aura around the knight, which protected him from magic. On his back, a large Bastard Sword with a red handle was safely secured to a leather sheath strapped to the back of his armor. A talisman of beasts was also strapped to his belt, which allowed him to caste spells of the Souls Arts and Miracles of God. On the other side of his belt, an Augite of Souls could be seen, which glowed brightly and supplied a source of light. This eliminated the need for a torch.

The armored man sheathed his Knight Sword as he made his way down the stairs around the Archstones and he looked around the Nexus. His brown eyes locked onto the Maiden in Black however and he saw that she had just finished lighting a few candles with that candle staff of hers. From the back, he noted how beautiful she looked. Her clingy black robes and loose black cape matched well with her obsidian colored hair. He'd go as far as saying she was attractive judging by the smooth curves of her body.

When the maiden turned around however, his opinion of her appearance changed; as it usually did. He didn't really mind her pale skin, but the cooled over wax that was covering her eyes honestly put him on edge. He already knew that there was no chance that she would hurt him, but speaking to someone with such a strange form of blindness didn't bode well for him for some reason.

With a light sigh, the armored knight approached the Maiden in Black. She looked in his general direction when she heard the clanking of his armor as "stared" at him with a blank frown.

"Thou seeketh soul power, dost thou not? Then touch the Demon inside me." she stated with a voice as soft as a whisper.

Staying silent, the knight bent down on one knee and lowered his head. He slowly closed his eyes as he held his right hand out in her direction.

"Soul of the mind, key to life's ether. Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended. So the world might be mended." the Maiden in Black recited as he focused the energy of the souls he's collected from his journey into her.

In exchange for the souls he allowed her to absorb, he was granted with a little increased strength and endurance, which made his armor seem lighter to him a little. Before she could absorb all of his souls however, he pulled his hand away and slowly stood up. He wanted to save at least some of his souls so he could trade them to the blacksmith, who would fix his armor and equipment. He also figured that he'd see if one of the magicians had any spells to teach him. After the demons arrived in the world, souls became the new currency.

"Art thou done?" the maiden asked, to which he nodded despite her blindness. "May thine… strength help the world be mended." she told him before she turned around and slowly began to walk away to light more candles.

Without a word, the knight made his way over to the side of the Nexus where the magicians stayed. At the moment, there were only two of them. He didn't bother to learn the name of one of them because said magician was a simple apprentice. The other however, was Sage Freke, the Visionary.

Sage Freke hailed from a land known as Yormedaar and he was a scholar of the Soul Arts, a powerful form of magic. Even though he is passed middle age, he was still well respected by magicians all over the world, but the priests of God shunned him for his studies of magic.

The quiet knight approached Sake Freke and noticed that the older magician was wearing dark gray robes with a pointed hood, like he usually did. The powerful sage slowly looked up at the knight with blue eyes and he smiled warmly.

"Ah, hello there, my fine magician friend." he greeted cheerfully as he closed a book he was reading.

The knight could never understand why Sage Freke called him a magician when he was clearly a knight, even though he did used spells when necessary. He never corrected Freke however out of respect. Not wanting to be rude, he nodded as a form of greeting.

"I have a proposal for you which you might be interested in." the Visionary began, earning another nod from the knight, urging him to continue. "I'm sure you're already aware that the Blue and Black Eye Stones you carry allow you to transport yourself to different versions of our world, but I have a theory that you might like to hear about. If you were to allow me to borrow one of those stones for a moment, I might be able to find a way to get you into other worlds that are completely different from ours." he explained with a cheerful tone of voice.

"How would that help us?" the knight questioned, speaking for the first time in a long while, which didn't help his dry throat.

"Simple… if you were to go to a completely different world, then you might be able to find yourself some allies; allies that could help you stop the Demon threat. And you wouldn't have to go there as a Blue Phantom either, so you can go there while you're still alive as well." Sage Freke answered as he shifted slightly in his seat on the floor.

The knight thought this over. It would be nice to have some company on his journey's outside of the Nexus, but he wasn't sure if this little science project would be worth his efforts. Then again, all he had to do was let Sage Freke borrow his Blue or Black Eye Stone for a little while. After a few moments of thought, he reached into one of his leather pouches and pulled out the Blue Eye Stone and held it out.

"Just please don't break it." he said as the Visionary in front of him gently snatched the stone out of his grasp and looked it over.

"Don't worry, I'll treat it like a mother treats her babe." Sage Freke assured as he carefully held the Blue Eye Stone in both of his aged hands.

That didn't really assure the knight after the things he's seen in the Valley of Defilement. He decided not to think of those dark thoughts however and simply nodded.

"Now then, is there anything else you needed from me? Perhaps you're willing to trade one of your Demon souls?" the powerful magician started, but stopped when he noticed the knight shake his head. "Very well. I can still be patient, my fine magician friend!" he said with a kind smile before he looked down at the Blue Eye Stone in his hands.

With nothing else to say, the quiet knight turned around and walked away. He decided to pay Blacksmith Boldwin a visit; he needed some of his equipment repaired anyway. Then afterwards, he'd purchase some Fresh Spice and Full Moon Grass from Patches, the Hyena. Once he paid them both a visit, he'd return to Sage Freke, the Visionary.

* * *

_Dragons covet gold _

_with a dark and fierce desire._

_Erebor was lost._

_For the dragon will guard his plunder _

_as long as he lives…_

_- The Hobbit_

* * *

It was a sunny day in the area around Mirkwood. In the grass fields outside of the infamous forest, a party of men could be seen approaching the forest from a distance. The group included a human Wizard, thirteen armed Dwarfs, and a Hobbit.

Thorin Oakenshield and his Dwarf companions were on a mission to retake their home from the fierce dragon, Smaug. They had been traveling for a long time and faced great challenges from the Orcs and other hostile creatures, but they would stop at nothing until the Lonely Mountain was under Dwarf control once again.

Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, walked at the back of the group with his head down slightly. For the past few days, he's been thinking a lot. For some reason, he felt like something bad was going to happen, but he couldn't quite figure out what that was. The only indication he got of what this was, was the strange dreams he's been having recently. He would usually only see darkness, but a deep whale-like moan would always be heard. He never could understand what this meant.

Sure: he, Gandalf the Grey, and the Dwarves were about to fight the most powerful dragon in Middle-Earth while some bloodthirsty Orcs were on their heels, but this rather strange dream and feelings kept bothering him. It was as if a dark shadow was standing over his shoulder and he couldn't make it go away.

After awhile of walking, the group stopped to take a five minute break. As everyone sat down in the grass, Gandalf walked over to the Hobbit with a kind smile.

"Hello, Mr. Baggins. How are you today?" the aged man questioned as he lightly leaned against his walking staff.

"Oh, fine. I'm doing fine." Bilbo answered a little quickly as he looked up at the much taller Wizard, who was donned in gray robes.

"Are you sure about that? You seem troubled by something." Gandalf questioned with a raised eyebrow, knowing that something was wrong.

The well-dressed Hobbit sighed as his grayish brown eyes lowered to the grassy ground at his large feet. He could never understand how the bearded Wizard could so easily understand his emotions.

"Nothing gets past you, huh?" Bilbo asked as he looked up at his old friend again. "I don't know what it is exactly, but I have this feeling in my gut that something's amiss." he explained, gaining some attention from the Dwarves.

"What do you mean by that?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf in the red clothes, questioned with a look of concern for the Hobbit.

"I don't know; that's the problem. And it's not about our journey to Erebor either… it's something else." Bilbo replied as he scratched the back of his head, frustrated that he couldn't give a better answer than that.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing." Glóin, the Dwarf with the light brown beard, said with an assuring smile.

Right after he said that, Thorin Oakenshield himself stood up from where he was sitting and slowly walked over to the Hobbit. This gained everyone's attention and they looked at their leader. He only stopped when he was right in front of Bilbo and they looked into each other's eyes.

"I want you to ignore these feelings you have for now. But if they get any worse, I trust that you will tell me about it immediately." the Dwarf leader spoke with his hardened, dark eyes and his long, brown hair shifted from the slight breeze.

"No worries from me. Um, I'll make sure to let you know." Bilbo quickly assured as he hastily nodded his head.

Thorin simply stared at the Hobbit for a few moments before his eyes softened and he nodded as well. He then looked over at the other Dwarves and the Wizard in their party.

"Alright, we must keep moving now!" the Dwarf leader stated loudly so everyone could hear him clearly.

The others nodded in understanding before they continued their walk towards the forests of Mirkwood. None of them really wanted to go there, but it was the fastest way to the Misty Mountain. The walk itself was mostly quiet and everyone became lost in their own thoughts. Some thought about what they'd do once they made it to Erebor while others thought of what they'd do after they defeat Smaug. Bilbo did his best not to think about these uneased feelings that has been plaguing him and he focused on their walk to Mirkwood.

Gandalf the Grey kept a straight face as they walked, but he too also felt like something was amiss, but he's been having this feeling for years. But Bilbo's recent nervousness gave him a lot to think about. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the usually cheerful Hobbit just in case. It seemed that things wouldn't be as simple as he originally thought.

* * *

Back in the Nexus, the knight had finished his business with the blacksmith and merchant, and he was now approaching old Sage Freke. He noticed in his peripheral vision that Sage Freke's apprentice was glaring at him, but he ignored it and approached the apprentice's master.

Sage Freke, the Visionary was holding his wooden catalyst in his left hand and a small white light could be seen on the tip of the magical wand-like object. The sage was holding the catalyst over the Blue Eye Stone he was given and he seemed to be in deep concentration. Out of respect, the knight chose to stay quiet until he was addressed.

A full minute passed before Sage Freke glanced up at the knight and the light faded from his catalyst. He was frowning at first, but his lips quickly curved into a smile before he held up the Blue Eye Stone, which now held a slightly darker tint to it.

"Here you are, my boy. Use the Eye Stone like you normally would, but instead of being summoned, you will invade another world… similar to your Black Eye Stone. However, you will not turn into a phantom." the old sage explained as the knight slowly took the offered Eye Stone.

"Have you tested this?" he asked as he looked at the darker Blue Eye Stone.

"…I am now… with you." Sage Freke answered after a short pause. "I'm sure that everything will work out fine, my friend. And unlike usual, I have made it so that this Eye Stone can be used in the Nexus. Invade this new world, find some allies, and then use that Eye Stone instead of your White Eye Stone. If you use the blue one, then you will return to the Nexus with anyone within arm's reach of you. At least, that's what it's supposed to do." he told the young knight with his ever present smile.

The knight simply sighed before he took a few steps away from the sage. He held the dark Blue Eye Stone in both hands and concentrated on the magical stone. The Eye Stone emitted a dark blue flash of light… and nothing happened. He raised an eyebrow behind his helmet and glanced at Sage Freke, who was watching closely.

"Just give it a few moments." the wise magician said reassuringly as he gently rubbed his thumb on his wooden catalyst, eager to see what happens.

They both waited for a few moments and the knight eventually slumped his shoulders, giving up. He was just about to speak before a bright green mist envelope his body. His brown eyes widened as the mist tingled with magical energy and with a bright flash, he disappeared.

Sage Freke smiled at the display and lowered his head to look at his lap. All he had to do now was wait for the knight to return so he could see the results. Thankfully, he was a very patient man.

Unknown to the sage however, the Maiden in Black was standing behind a stone column. She stood completely still and leaned against her candle staff, but if one were to look closely, they would've seen her lower lip quivering slightly. Whether she was sad or angry was unknown, but it was certain that she was upset by what the knight and sage just did.

Instead of confronting the sage about this, she quietly walked away despite the wax covering her eyes. She now had much more things to do because of their little experiment, and she still had to keep the candles of the Nexus lit.


	2. Breaking the Boundaries

**Kwai kwai nidobak! Here is the second chapter. This story is gonna start out a little slow at first, but things will come together in future chapters. I have a lot planned for this story. Now then, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 2: Breaking the Boundaries

Near a river in Mirkwood, everything was calm. The birds could be heard singing their songs and there was a light breeze to cool down the woodland creatures from the hot sun. The area seemed rather calm and even welcoming.

In the grass a few feet away from the river, a bright green colored mist began to rise up from the ground. The mist took the shape of what seemed like a human and soon enough, the knight from the Nexus materialized. He was standing with his back slouched slightly as the mist began to fade away. Once the mist had completely evaporated, he stood up straight and looked around the new area he was in.

As a precaution, the lone knight used his right hand to unsheathe his sword and he kept a firm grip on his weapon and shield. The last thing he wanted was to be attacked while he was unprepared.

'This place looks safe enough, but looks can be deceiving.' he thought to himself as he walked forward a few steps and looked at the river ahead of him.

Not really knowing where to go or what he should be doing, the knight decided to stay near the river and go in the opposite direction the water was going. He was hoping that he'd stumble upon a settlement if he went this route. And as he walked, his metal armor clanked, but he was used to that noise by now.

As the knight walked over rocks and grass, he started to think about what kind of world he was in. He was no stranger to traveling to different worlds, but he'd only go to other versions of his world. This place was different however and he had no idea what to expect. For the first time in possibly months, he felt nervous.

The armored man suddenly stopped walking when he heard the faintest sound of footsteps somewhere to his left. He quickly looked over where the sound came from, but only saw the trees of the unfamiliar forest. His brown eyes narrowed in his helmet's eye holes and he listened carefully, thinking that he might hear whatever was out there before he could see it.

The twang of a fired arrow was heard and the knight speedily raised his Dark Silver Shield over his face and chest. A dark colored arrow immediately hit the shield's surface, but it simply bounced off the thick metal, unable to penetrate it.

The knight heard a snarl from whatever shot the arrow and various footsteps could be heard running towards him. He lowered his shield to see four humanoid creatures sprint out of the foliage and they stopped a few yards away from him.

These creatures had gray skin and they each looked very muscular. Their noses were flat; they had yellowing teeth, and long pointed ears. The creatures were wearing armor made out of hard leather and bones, which gave them a menacing appearance.

For weapons, one of the creatures was carrying a notched bow and it was aiming at the knight. Two of them were carrying swords with cruel looking blades. And the last creature was carrying a broad axe.

The knight raised his shield as he glared at the strange creatures and he kept a firm grip on his knight sword. He watched as the one with the axe snarled and took a step closer.

"Uman… Ogtuuk klerg. (Human. Prepare for battle.)" it hissed in a language unfamiliar to the knight as it narrowed it's black eyes.

The knight just stared as some of the creatures shifted their feet and waved their weapons in the air. It was obvious that they wanted to fight. He was just taking this small moment of piece to come up with a battle strategy.

"Grrraaahhh!" the axe wielding creature screamed all of a sudden and it charged forward with the two sword wielders close behind it.

When they were close enough, the creature with the axe swung it's weapon downwards to try to crush the knight's skull. Before the blade could connect however, he quickly leapt to the side and rolled on the grassy ground. He then stood up and looked at the slightly surprised creatures. It seemed like they weren't expecting someone who was wearing heavy armor to be so agile.

The one with the bow quickly shrugged off it's surprise and released the bowstring, causing it's arrow to fly towards the knight. The knight quickly jumped and rolled to the side and the arrow struck a tree behind where he was standing a few moments ago. Once he was up, he quickly placed his Dark Silver Shield over his back and with his now free left hand; he grabbed his talisman of beasts from his belt.

The creatures snarled as they began to circle around the knight, but his gaze was strictly on the bow user, who was preparing another arrow. Before it could fire off another shot, a blue light began to emit from the talisman the knight was holding and he raised his now glowing hand. He shifted his arm so it was over his chest before he quickly extended his arm so it was pointing at the archer.

As soon as he did that, what looked like a spear of pure light shot out of the talisman of beasts. This spell, Soul Ray, flew through the air and the bow wielder's eyes widened in surprise as the blue spear flew straight towards him.

"Ack!" the archer gasped as the Soul Ray pierced straight through it's chest and continued to travel through the air behind him.

The spear of light finally struck a tree many yards away and a blue mist seeped out of the magical weapon. As this happened, the severely injured creature dropped it's bow and fell to it's knees. The others watched as their companion looked down at the gaping wound on it's chest and it finally fell to the ground, never to move again.

While they were distracted, the knight fired off another Soul Ray and hit one of the creatures carrying a sword. It cried out in agony as the spell pierced through it and like it's bow wielding companion, it died on the spot.

The others were quicker to react this time and they snarled while they ran towards the knight. His eyes narrowed within his helmet's eyeholes as he quickly attached his magical talisman onto the side of his belt and held his sword in both hands.

When the remaining creature with a sword was close enough, it raised it's weapon to perform an overhead swipe, hoping to kill the knight quickly. Before it could finish it's attack however, the knight hopped back about a foot away and the monster's sword just barely missed him. The axe wielding creature growled and smashed it's hammer into the human's shoulder, making him grunt in pain.

Instead of dying or falling to the ground, the knight stood his ground. Small rivers of blood could be seen sliding down his armor's chest and shoulder pieces. The two creatures froze in astonishment as they looked at their opponent. In all their years of killing others not of their kind, they've never encountered a human who could simply shrug off a direct attack from an axe.

The knight didn't waste any time and roughly yanked his bloodied shoulder away from the axe. He then pointed his knight sword at the creature that just wounded him and lunged forward. His sword stabbed through the monster's abdomen and it screamed as black tinted blood spurted out of his back.

The critically injured monster dropped it's axe and fell to it's knees as it's eyes switched from the sword penetrating it's stomach and the wielder of the weapon. The knight silently placed his right foot on the creature's shoulder to use as leverage and yanked his sword out of the creature.

The monster grunted as it fell to the grassy ground and stared up at the sky. Within moments, the life faded out of it's eyes and it laid limp.

With the axe wielder now dead, the knight cautiously turned to look at the remaining monster, who was menacingly baring it's yellowed teeth at him. He took this moment to release his sword from his left hand so he was only holding it with his right hand. He then grabbed his Dark Silver Shield from his back, but he didn't raise it. He just watched as the creature crouched down and balled it's free hand into a fist.

"Uu'a eem. (You are mine.)" the sword wielding monster hissed with traces of saliva dripping from it's mouth.

The knight firmly held his sword and shield as the creature suddenly charged towards him at a full sprint. He didn't move a muscle as the monster snarled and swung it's own sword, aiming for his neck.

Just before the blade could connect, the knight used his sword to parry the blade safely away from him. The creature was stunned briefly by the sudden action, but this was all the knight needed. He quickly stabbed the creature through the chest and pushed forward, causing the creature to fall to the ground with the human blade still embedded in it's chest.

The knight quickly regained his balance before he could fall too and he pulled his sword out of the monster. He then looked down at his opponent to see it coughing up black blood and it was attempt to use it's clawed hands to apply pressure to it's fatal wound. He just stared at the pathetic creature with cold eyes, not caring for it's suffering.

"What are you?" the armored man questioned as he flicked his wrist to get some of the blood off of his knight sword.

At first, the monster just coughed up more blood and stared at him with it's blood red eyes. He thought it was just going to ignore him, but if finally answered when he raised his sword to stab it again.

"O-Orc… we are Orcs…" the creature choked out with a loud gasp.

Immediately after the Orc said that, it's body went limp and it died on the spot. With this new piece of information and knowing that these creatures are hostile, the knight silently took a step away from the corpses on the ground. He then looked down at his bleeding shoulder. Despite what the Orcs might've thought about his lack of interest in his wound earlier, it did hurt, but a simple wound like that was not enough to kill someone like him.

The knight took this moment of peace to place his shield onto his back and he used his left hand to dig into his leather satchel on his belt. After a bit of searching, he pulled his hand out of his satchel and a wilted looking yellow colored plant could be seen in his hand. Despite the fact that the plant was wilted, it emitted a slight golden glow. The plant seemed to be an herb of some kind and it was called Full Moon Grass. This herb, like the other types of Moon Grass, was mostly used for medical purposes.

With a very quiet sigh that only those with the keenest of hearings could hear, the knight raised the healing herb to his helmeted face. Instead of taking off his helmet however, he gently pushed the Moon Grass through the mouth piece's breathing holes. As the plants went through, he began to chew on the dried up herbs before swallowing. As he did this, the bloodied wound on his shoulder stopped bleeding and closed up. If it wasn't for the blood around it, one could say that there was never a wound there in the first place.

Once the armored man had consumed all of the herbs, he lowered his left hand and took out his Dark Silver Shield again. With one final glance at the dead Orcs, he continued to walk up river on the rocky shore, his armor clanking as he did so.

'This place is strange. I've never even heard of Orcs before. At least I know that they are unfriendly.' he thought to himself with a frown behind his helmet.

With this new information in mind, the knight wordlessly walked by the river. He wasn't gonna let a group of monsters stop him from finding allies. What he didn't realize however was that he was being followed.

* * *

In the Elvish kingdom in Mirkwood, an Elf could be seen looking out a window at the surrounding forest. This Elf was tall, like most other elves, and he had bleached blonde hair that was tucked behind his pointed ears. He appeared to be young and his blue eyes stared out the window, occasionally looking at the Elf guards patrolling the area around the palace. This particular Elf was also wearing dark gray robes that shined. A sword could also be seen sheathed to his belt. Lastly, he was wearing a multi-spined crown on his head, signifying his royalty. This was the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood.

The King could hear two sets of footsteps behind him and he slowly turned around to face two of his Elf scouts. Both had their bows and swords sheathed and they looked at their leader with straight faces. The one to the left had light brown hair while the other had blonde hair.

"Aaye aran Thranduil. (Hail King Thranduil.)" the scout with blonde hair greeted as they both bowed their heads in respect.

"Mani naa ta? (What is it?)" the Elf king, now known as Thranduil, questioned sharply with an emotionless tone of voice.

"Iva rauties ar tulk Naugrims raane kori malos. Lye noa Thorin Oakenshield aa' na o sen. (Our hunters have found Dwarves wandering around the forest. We think Thorin Oakenshield may be with them.)" the blonde elf answered as he and his partner rose their heads again, but they never looked at their King's eyes.

"Mani naa ron umien? (What are they doing?)" Thranduil questioned harshly, recalling that name very well.

"Tella lye tirta, ron nakar norso liante'. (Last we saw, they were battling giant spiders.)" the blonde elf answered immediately without hesitation.

"Kol sen sinome ar fin sen mi i' hrota. (Take them here and lock them in the dungeon.)" their King ordered sternly, wishing to speak to Thorin himself.

The Elf hunter with the light hair nodded respectfully before he turned around and walked out at a hurried pace. The Elf with the brown hair remained however and the King of the Elves of Mirkwood looked at the hunter with a raised eyebrow. He wanted to know what this hunter had to say.

"Heruamin… hoo en i' ilen rauties ar amin men eden roquen tulien ana Mirkwood neva siiire. (My lord... some of the other hunters and I spotted a human knight coming towards our Mirkwood near the river.)" he informed his King with his head bowed slightly; he was choosing his words carefully.

"Ar mankoi uma nyarya amin sina (And why did you tell me this?)" Thranduil questioned with a soft, yet stern tone of voice.

The Elf King had more concern for the Dwarves and Thorin Oakenshield. He failed to see why one human could be a bother to his kingdom. If anything, he believed the human would fall victim to the forest's supernatural effects on the mind; erasing rational thought.

"Kaima ro nakar' kanta Glamhoth' o u utu ar ro kuila. Ro same arya bane ar blam ta ve iki ta muerna naike' ho. (Well, he battled four Orcs with no help and he lived. He even received a fatal injury and ignored it as if it barely scratched him.)" the brown haired Elf informed hesitantly, obviously a little shaken by what he must've saw.

Now this gained Thranduil's attention immediately. He's heard of many strange things throughout his long lifetime, but he's never heard of a simple human sustaining a blow like that before. If what this hunter was saying was true, then he could possibly gain valuable information. If he couldn't get any information from Thorin Oakenshield, then he'd press this human for answers.

Of course, there was always the possibility that the human didn't know anything about what Oakenshield was up to. But either way, he could have a lot to gain by speaking to this mysterious human. And in his opinion, he's rather speak with a civil human rather than a barbaric Dwarf.

"Ko' i' firya ana amin. (Bring the human to me.)" the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood ordered sternly, to which the hunter nodded in understanding.

He then watched as the brown haired Elf quickly exited to tell the others what their mission was. Thranduil just turned back around to look out of the window. He had so many questions, yet no answers.

* * *

Within the Nexus of Boletaria, Sage Freke, the Visionary was sitting down at his usual spot in the Nexus and he was reading a book. He was trying to figure out how exactly humans could become as strong as the Demons the knight fights. He so desperately wanted to help fight the monsters and the Demons, but his old age simply disallowed that. The only thing he could do was teach spells and try to learn as much information as he possibly could.

The sage barely noticed as his apprentice approached him. His apprentice was wearing simple wizard's clothes; which included an olive green vest, a white undershirt and gloves, dark gray pants, and leather boots. He also had ear length brown hair.

"Sage Freke? May I ask you a question?" the apprentice asked with his usual grumpy attitude.

The great sage looked up from his book and smiled under his hood. Despite his disciple's grumpiness, he knew the boy meant well.

"Where did that Slayer of Demons go? I saw him go talk to you earlier, but now he's just vanished." the apprentice inquired as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Why, he's partaking in a little experiment for me." the gray robed magician replied with a bit smile. "You know of the Eye Stones, correct?" he questioned as the shadows of his hood blackened his upper face.

"Yes, I know about them. Why?" his apprentice questioned quizzically, honestly interested in what his master had to say.

"I have found a way for our hero to use those stones to travel to different worlds beyond our own. Where he is now, I can't say, but he is in a world that is completely different from ours." Sage Freke explained proudly and he couldn't help, but puff his chest out a little.

The apprentice had to admit, he was impressed by his teacher's accomplishment. He was about to praise the great sage, but stopped when he heard soft footprints approaching them. The two magicians looked behind the apprentice to see the Maiden in Black slowly approaching them. Neither of them could understand how she could move around so easily with that wax covering her eyes.

"Leave us." Sage Freke told his apprentice with a heavy frown under his gray hood.

The apprentice was about to argue, but he shut up when he saw how serious his master was. He just sighed and walked over to sit down on the side of the nearby column. Once he was out of sight, the Maiden slowly walked forward, only stopping when she was standing a few feet away from the sage.

"So… what business do you have with me, Demon?" Sage Freke questioned with a cold glare, but he kept his voice low.

The Maiden in Black didn't answer at first and she held her candle staff a little more tightly. The powerful magician was about to ask again, but she interrupted him.

"Thou are'st meddling in affairs thou dost not understand." she spoke softly with her head lowered slightly, concealing her forehead with her black as night hair.

"I don't know what you're talking about." the sage replied with an emotionless tone of voice.

"Thou can'st hide from me. Thine experiments with the Archstones dangers thee. Dangers us all." the Maiden in Black spoke more sternly, but kept her soft tone.

"I am endangering no one. I merely wish to aid the Slayer of Demons, like everyone else in this Nexus." Sage Freke stated with a little more annoyance in his voice, but he restrained himself from yelling or sounding too hostile.

"Thou dost not understand…" she murmured as she turned away to leave.

"Then why don't you explain to me!? Why can't you just answer my questions? Hell, answer anyone's questions!?" the powerful magician snapped as he stared at her waxed over eyes.

The Maiden in Black didn't reply however and silently walked away with her head lowered. Sage Freke simply scoffed at this and closed his eyes to calm down. He simply couldn't understand why she was so secretive towards everybody.

He knew that everyone in the Nexus has at least tried speaking to her; except maybe Stockpile Thomas. Everyone who tried to ask her anything would either be rewarded with silence or were told that they wouldn't understand. It seemed like no matter what, she would answer anyone's question. Even the knight Demon slayer was told little information.

Sage Freke just sighed as his shoulders slouched. But after awhile, he sat with his back straight again. He didn't care what the Maiden in Black said; he was determined to continue with his experiments if it meant stopping the Demons. He just looked down at his book in his hands and continued to read.

**I would just like to thank DONOVAN94 for giving me some helpful advice for this story. Also, I had to improvise a few words for the Elvish language because I couldn't find the translations for all the words I needed.**


	3. Giving in to Hatred

**Kwai kwai everyone! It seems like this story is slowly getting more and more attention, which is always a nice thing. I think I should bring this up because I spoke to two people about this already. The world of Demon's Souls is very open-ended, so whether some of the characters are good or evil; right or wrong; is not entirely certain. The same can be said about the Demon's Souls antagonists and Demons themselves. This is just something to keep in mind because the same will apply for this story. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 3: Giving in to Hatred

Just outside of the forest of Mirkwood, the knight from Boletaria was walking near the river at a casual pace. He made sure to stay alert however just in case any Orcs tried to attack him again. Dying wasn't something he really wanted to be doing.

While he walked, a group of Elves silently followed him without him noticing. They each jumped from tree to tree nearby and made sure to stay out of sight. After awhile, the Elves jumped down onto the ground and silently rushed towards the lone man. One of them stopped directly behind him.

The knight stopped immediately when he heard the sound of a bowstring being pulled back and he very slowly looked over his shoulder. The first thing he saw was an arrowhead pointing directly at his face and a small group of people with pointed ears aiming their arrows at him.

"King Thranduil wishes to speak with you." the Elf man who was closest to him stated.

This caused the knight to raise an eyebrow behind his helmet. He noticed how the words the Elf spoke seemed to roll of his tongue, as if he's practiced speech since he was first born. He then noticed that these people had pointed ears, which was a trait he's never seen before. Lastly, he was wondering who the hell King Thranduil was.

"You can either come with us peacefully or we will bring you by force. It's your choice." the Elf who spoke before said with his blue eyes narrowed.

At first, the knight didn't move a muscle and simply stared over his shoulder at the archers. The thought of simply attacking these people came to mind, but he dismissed that thought when he realized that these might be potential allies.

The Elves were about to act because he didn't do anything, but they stopped themselves when the armored human slowly sheathed his knight sword. He then placed his Dark Silver Shield on his back before he turned around to fully face the Elves.

"So, you comply?" the Elf closest to him questioned as his muscles relaxed a little, but he still held his bowstring back just in case.

The knight nodded as a silent reply and the Elves finally lowered their bows. Two Elves walked forward so they were standing on both sides of the knight. The Elf who seemed to be the speaker of the group motioned for them to follow before he started to walk towards the forest to the knight's right.

The Demon slayer simply followed the Elf as the others escorted him and kept an eye on him. He had no plans to attack them unless he was provoked. He simply followed his escorts down a path in between the tall trees.

After awhile, the group spotted a cavern ahead of them and a stone bridge led to what looked like a city that was carved into the rock. Other Elves could be seen walking around the various paths that were also carved into the rock. The knight had to admit, this new place looked beautiful.

"We're almost there, human. I trust that you'll behave yourself." the Elf who spoke earlier stated as they approached the bridge.

* * *

At the Mirkwood palace, King Thranduil was in the main room and looking out the window. There were also some Elvish guards around the room, guarding their king.

The King of Mirkwood had just finished speaking with the captured Thorin Oakenshield and he wasn't pleased by the conversation in the slightest. He didn't like how the Dwarf refused to cooperate with him even after he proposed to help the Dwarves. So in retaliation, the King had him and the other Dwarves locked away in the dungeons.

He still couldn't stand how Oakenshield spoke to him with such ferocity and disrespect. But he was a patient Elf. It didn't matter to him if he had to wait a hundred years for the Dwarf to allow him and his people to have some of the Lonely Mountain's treasures if it meant he had to help retake the mountain.

Thranduil was brought out of his bitter thoughts when two Elf soldiers wearing green armor approached him. He didn't speak a word, but he simply stared at them with a blank expression to show that he would listen to whatever they had to say.

"I' firya naa sinome. (The human is here.)" the soldier to the left stated with his eyes lowered.

Their King nodded in understanding and two more guards entered the room. In between these soldiers however, the knight from Boletaria was with them. The three of them stopped a few feet away from the King.

While all the guards kept their eyes lowered in respect, the knight looked into Thranduil's eyes through his helmet's eye holes. The King was slightly annoyed by this, but he didn't speak or show this.

"I have heard of your capabilities, human." the King of the Elves of northern Mirkwood stated with his ever so blank expression.

The knight didn't reply to this, but he did raise an eyebrow quizzically. He could only assume that this King had some of these pointy eared people watch him.

"Not a talkative one? That's fine. I have been informed that you fought four Orcs by yourself. An impressive feat for a human." Thranduil continued. "I was also told that you received a fatal wound, yet you still fought. I would like to know how you did that." he stated with honest curiosity.

"I'm not like most humans. I don't even think I can be called a human anymore." the knight replied quietly, just above a whisper.

The Elf King frowned at this response and slowly walked forward with his hands resting behind his back. He stopped merely a foot or two away from the human and looked down at him because he was much taller.

"Explain yourself. Why do you say such things?" he questioned softly, trying to get the armored human to open up to him.

"I would rather keep that information to myself…" the knight replied as he slowly looked away, causing the steel plating around his neck to clank as he did so.

Thranduil began to grow frustrated at this point, and the previous conversation with Thorin Oakenshield didn't help things. He quickly calmed down before he could show his aggression and he tried something else.

"Why were you traveling around my territory?" he questioned calmly as he took a few small steps back to give the knight more room.

The knight looked back at the Elf king when he was asked that. He was about to state his true intentions of gaining allies, but he didn't like this Elf's behavior and to put it simply, he didn't trust Thranduil. If he was going to get allies, he wanted to at least be able to trust them a little.

"I came for a place to rest my weary bones." he lied as he looked into the Elf King dead in the eyes.

Thranduil stared back at the human's dark brown orbs and neither one of them looked away. It was as if a mental battle was going on between the two. After a long silence however, the King finally replied.

"I give you permission to stay in my kingdom, but I would very much like to speak to you again when you wish to tell me the truth. " Thranduil stated with an almost cold tone of voice.

The knight simply nodded to this, but he was frowning heavily behind his helmet. He then turned around and started to walk away, his metal armor clanking as he did so. All he wanted to do now was get away from the King. Two of the Elf guards were about to follow him, but the Elf King held his hand up to stop them.

"Leave him. I don't think he wishes to start a fight." he said with a straight face before he turned around to look at the scenery before him.

Thranduil would let the knight do as he pleased for the time being, but as he said before, he was a very patient Elf. He was going to get answers from both the knight and Thorin Oakenshield no matter what.

* * *

In the deeper parts of the palace, all of the Dwarves, including Thorin Oakenshield, were locked up in various cells. They were being kept there by the Elves because they refused to cooperate with Thranduil after what he did, or rather didn't do, when they lost their home to Smaug.

Unknown to them however, Bilbo Baggins was sneaking around the lower dungeons with a set of keys in his right hand. He wasn't really worried about being seen because he was wearing some kind of invisibility that he found many days ago at the start of this quest with the Dwarves.

After Gandalf left for unexplained reasons before they entered the Mirkwood forest, the group was attacked by some kind of giant spiders. Bilbo was able to fight them off thanks to his ring, but his Dwarf companions were captured by the Elves native to Mirkwood. He followed them to the Elf palace and had successfully stolen the keys he needed to free his companions from their cells. He was determined to free them so that they could continue their quest to retake the Lonely Mountain from the dragon, Smaug.

As the Hobbit walked, he began to hear the familiar voices of the Dwarves. He smiled to himself when he heard the voices and he quickly took off his ring so that he was visible again.

"I wager the son is on the rise. Must be nearly dawn." he heard Bofur's voice speak out from within one of the many cells.

"We're never gonna reach the mountain, are we?" Ori asked with a sad tone of voice and Bilbo approached his cell.

"Not stuck in here, you're not." the Hobbit told the orange haired Dwarf before he held up the keys that would lead the Dwarves to their freedom.

This gained all of the Dwarves' attention and they each looked through the bars of their cells to look at the Hobbit with disbelief. Before any of them could notice, he stuffed his ring in his pocket.

"Bilbo!" Bifur cried out happily and the others began to mumble cheerfully to themselves.

"Shh! There are guards nearby! Bilbo whispered so that they could all here him and he opened the barred door to Thorin Oakenshield's cell.

After that was done, he quickly unlocked the other cells, starting with Balin's. it didn't take him long to free them all and once they were all free, he led them out of the dungeons as quickly and quietly as he could. They quickly made their way down a set of narrow stairs without railings.

As they went down stairs, the group stopped dead in their tracks all of a sudden. They could see a human man wearing some kind of heavy armor not too far from them. The human knight looked up at the group and tilted his head to the side, showing his confusion.

"We can't risk him telling the Elves what happened." Thorin murmured as he balled his hands into fists.

"Perhaps we could try reasoning with him instead of resorting to violence." Balin, the white bearded Dwarf suggested, knowing that a fight would gain unwanted attention.

Thorin Oakenshield frowned at this and walked right up to knight. Because he was a few steps above the human, they were able to look each other in the eyes. They both just stared at each other's dark eyes for awhile before the Dwarf spoke.

"I don't know who you are, but I can't risk you telling that cursed Thranduil where we are. I'll give you a choice. You can either come with us or we will cut you down." the short bearded Dwarf stated with a cold tone of voice.

The knight raised his head slightly at this and he seemed to be in deep thought. It seemed like an entire minute passed before he responded.

"I have no love for the pointed eared men and their King is asking me questions I'd rather not answer. I will go with you, but don't ever threaten me again or you will regret it." the knight spoke with a just as cold voice, but his helmet obvious muffled it slightly.

Thorin narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded, glad that things at least when mostly his way. He then motioned for the knight to go down the stairs with them and they continued on their way. Most of the Dwarves and Hobbit flinched when they heard the human's armor clank noisily, but they chose to ignore it and kept heading downwards. Bilbo took this moment to go back to the front and he led everyone down.

Each of the Dwarves eyed the new human with untrusting expressions. Balin and Bilbo seemed to be the only ones who didn't mind him. To Thorin however, this human didn't matter. His plan was to leave the knight as soon as they left Mirkwood. The knight himself was thinking about something important however. He was considering whether these strange short men could be his allies or not. He's never seen men so small before, but he chose to look passed that for now.

The Hobbit soon led the group into a winery below the dungeons and the group slowed down when they saw two Elves at one of the tables. Judging by their snores, they were both asleep. When the group stopped, the knight reached into his leather pouch and took out a silver ring with a sapphire attached to it. He quickly slipped it over the metal on his right index finger. The Dwarves and the Hobbit watched with curiosity as his armor's clanking grew much more quiet and a gray mist seemed to emit from his lower body.

"Thief's ring." the knight stated quietly as he lowered his hands.

The group chose not to question this right now and looked at Bilbo for instructions. They assumed that he had an escape route in mind.

"This way." the Hobbit whispered with a wave of his hand as he led them all across the room.

"I don't believe we're in the cellars. You're supposed to be leading us out, not further in." Bofur murmured under his breath.

"I know what I'm doing." Bilbo whispered back as they approached a pile of wine barrels. "Everyone; into the barrels. Quickly." he told everyone.

"Are you mad? They'll find us." Dwalin, the balding Dwarf, whispered harshly as he walked up to the Hobbit.

"No, they won't. Just please, please trust me." the Hobbit practically begged and the others looked at each other with nervous expressions.

'Not the strangest thing I've ever done.' the knight thought to himself before he bent down and crawled into one of the barrels without a sound.

The others took this as encouragement and one-by-one; they each crawled into the barrels. With a little bit of struggling, all, but Bilbo was in a barrel. The well-dressed Hobbit then walked over to a lever to the side.

"What do we do now?" Bifur asked as the Dwarves poked their heads out of the barrels.

"Hold your breaths." Bilbo answered before he grabbed hold of the lever and quickly pulled it towards him.

As soon as he did that, the floor underneath the barrels began to tilt so that one side was higher than the others. The Dwarves started screaming panickingly as the barrels rolled downwards towards the dark caverns under the floor.

When the barrels reached the tip of the tilted floor, they were dropped down into and underground river. The barrels turned upwards when they hit the water and the thirteen Dwarves were able to breathe easily. Before the barrel with the knight in it could fall into the water, he reached out and grabbed the Hobbit's collar. With relative ease, he pulled Bilbo into the barrel and they too fell into the river below.

Once all the barrels were in the river and floating away, the floor tilted back to normal. The group within the barrels then poked their heads out of the barrels to see daylight ahead of them. As they did, the knight took off his Thief's Ring and placed it back into his leather pouch.

"Well done, master Baggins." Thorin Oakenshield complemented as they all looked at each other, wondering what they should do now.

* * *

In Boletaria, there is only one place where people can throw away their most unwanted belongings. The Valley of Defilement was known for providing such a luxury. Men and women would travel to the highest ledges overlooking the Valley and dump their unwanted possessions.

These people would throw away various trash, executed criminals, plague victims, and even unwanted babies. Because of this, the Valley has been overtaken by a swamp filled to the brim with poison and plague. Amazingly, people were actually able to live here, but just barely. The people who lived here were deformed monsters of men and they were now mindless beasts because of the Demons.

The people who lived in the Valley of Defilement once offered souls to the one person who ever showed them compassion. And that person was known as the Sixth Saint, Astraea. She and her bodyguard, Garl of Vinland, came to the Valley of Defilement years ago in an attempt to help the poor men, women, and children who lived there. They went to the deepest depths of the swamp, but after all the horrors they saw, the two disciples of God lost faith in their lord. They couldn't understand how any God could let a place like this exist. Maiden Astraea chose to become a Demon so that she could at least try to ease the pain of those who were suffering in the Valley.

Many brave warriors traveled to the Valley of Defilement to try to slay Maiden Astraea for what she's become, but they all fell before Garl Vinland, who swore to protect her no matter what. It wasn't until the most recent warrior, the Slayer of Demons, came to the Valley that everything changed. He was actually able to kill Garl Vinland and because of this, Maiden Astraea committed suicide with her own knife out of grief.

Now, the Valley was as it once was a leaderless cesspool full of disease and madmen. And where Maiden Astraea once stayed, the mutated babies who were left to rot cried out, wanting their only savior to return. This however, would never happen.

On a muddy walkway just above the plague swamp, a green colored mist began to rise out of the ground. The mist soon faded away as quickly as it came, but it left behind a knight. This knight wasn't alive however and was very different from the knight who slayed Demons.

This knight was wearing bright silver armor with holy engravings carved into the metal. The armor covered him from head to toe and his joints were guarded by chainmail. There was also some blue cloth going around his upper legs under some more armor plating. The suit's helmet completely covered the knight's face and had a large fan jutting out of the top. In his left hand, he was holding a Dark Silver Shield, which looked exactly the same as the one the Slayer of Demons carried. In his right hand however, he was carrying an extremely large iron hammer that looked incredibly heavy. It was remarkable that the knight could even hold it in one hand. In order to accommodate the weight of the weapon, he let it rest on his shoulder while he held it. This hammer, which looked more like an iron club than anything, was called the Bramd. The last noteworthy trait that this knight had was that he had a slight green tint to him, which indicated that he was in soul form, or was a ghost.

This ghostly knight was none other than Garl Vinland himself. The first thing he did was slowly looked around the dark cavern he was in. Despite the fact that his helmet didn't have eye holes, he could see perfectly beyond the metal protecting his face.

'What happened? Where is dearest Astraea?' Garl thought to himself with a western Vinland accent as he completely turned around to look at where she usually sat.

His whole body stiffened when he saw that she wasn't there. It was at that moment that he remembered the mysterious knight entering their sanctuary and their battle. He remembered how he was killed by the knight. This could only mean one thing…

Garl of Vinland tightened his grip on his Bramd and Dark Silver Shield. He felt utter grief when he realized that he couldn't protect Maiden Astraea, the woman he loved oh so dearly. But he also felt another strong emotion; hatred. He hated how God could be so cruel as to let Astraea die while he was reborn as a ghost. But he also hated that knight who dared to hurt the only person who could save the Valley of Defilement. The only person who ever gave him a purpose in life.

The reason why the knight came in the first place didn't matter. All Garl Vinland wanted to do was punish the one who took away his beloved. As these dark thoughts seeped into his very being, something happened.

Garl Vinland's bright, silver armor began to darken and the blue cloth around his legs turned black. Black splotches then began to appear all over his body and his Bramd, which made his already intimidating appearance much more frightening. Lastly, his green tint shifted into a red aura.

The Black Phantom slowly turned around and started to walk away. Despite his heavy armor, the metal plating didn't clank at all and his movements were deathly silent. Nothing mattered to him anymore. The only thing that was important was the slayer of Demon's death. He'd be damned if he let that murderer get away unpunished.

As Garl Vinland walked down the muddy path, he didn't even notice as a white colored fog began to surround him. It got to the point where he couldn't see anything around him and his boots no long sunk into the mud. Within moments, the fog faded away, but he was no longer in the Valley of Defilement. He was now walking on some rocks next to a river. He stopped walking however when he realized that he was in a completely new place.

It didn't matter to the Black Phantom where he was, all he knew was that wherever this place was, his lover's killer was here. Garl Vinland took this moment to look down the river and he could see what looked like barrels going down the river towards him.


	4. No Longer Human

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I think I should say this before I offend anyone. The God in Demon's Souls isn't the same God that Christians and other religious people believe in real life. I'm not religious myself, so this doesn't bother me, but I fell like this had to be said due to the content in this chapter. Now that that's been said, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 4: No Longer Human

Deep in the dumping grounds of the Valley of Defilement, there were two people of the Church of God walking down a muddy path. These people were Garl Vinland, who was clad in Dark Silver Armor, Maiden Astraea.

Maiden Astraea was wearing white robes that a priestess usually wore. She was also donning a white cape that was attached to a white hood. The bottom edges of her robes were stained brown and red because of the muddy swamp and the blood of insane people that her bodyguard, Garl Vinland, slayed. Her skin was pale white and under her white hood, it could be seen that he had blonde hair.

The two holy figures were in the deepest chamber of the Valley and in the waters below, the mutated plague babies could be seen looking up at them. Some of them were crying while others laid limp in the water.

"Why Garl? Why must these people suffer so? Why doesn't God help them?" Maiden Astraea asked softly as the muddy path they were walking on led downwards, towards the plague swamp.

"I don't know…" Garl Vinland answered emotionlessly as they walked.

The sixth saint frowned at this answer, but she didn't blame him for not knowing. Ever since they entered the Valley of Defilement, that's all that she's thought about. She couldn't even fathom how someone as mighty as God couldn't even help these people. She could see some of them now on the ledges above them. They wore tattered clothes and their faces were heavily deformed to look like bird beaks. It sickened her to see them, but she also pitied them.

As she thought about this, they both stepped into the plague ridden water. But when the plague started to seep into them, Maiden Astraea slowly held up a silver talisman that sort of looked like a tree. They stopped walking when she held up the talisman and Garl Vinland slowly turned to look at her.

Maiden Astraea balled both of her hands into fists and held them over her face. As this happened, a blue tinted light began to form around her and Garl Vinland. She was performing a Miracle with her talisman of God, which were kind of like spells, but they were used by those of the church.

The blue light faded away as quickly as it came and Astraea lowered her arms. The plague from the swamp was now no longer harming them because she used a Miracle called "Cure." This Miracle would only be active for a short amount of time, so they needed to hurry.

Garl Vinland spotted a flat rock that was over the water ahead of them and he led Maiden Astraea over to it. She followed close behind him and once they were close enough to it, he quickly placed his shield onto his back and held out his left hand.

The sixth saint smiled at her bodyguard before she took his hand with her own left hand and with the holy knight's help, she was able to climb onto the rock. Once she was safely out of the plagued water, she turned around and sat down. He was easily able to climb onto the rock without any help and unlike her, he stayed standing.

"I won't lie to you… I have been questioning God as of late…" the maiden in white robes commented softly as she looked down at her mud and blood stained robes.

"I know. I have myself." Garl Vinland admitted as he looked up at the balconies above to see some of the Valley's inhabitants looking down at them with what looked like… hope.

There was a silence after he said that and the only sounds that could be heard was the cries of the plague babies and the agonizing moans of the Valley of Defilement's people. All of a sudden, a white flash appeared in front of the knight and priestess.

Maiden Astraea gasped from the sudden light while her guardian raised his Dark Silver Shield protectively in front of her. As the light faded, they looked forward to see a white orb of light floating harmlessly a few feet in front of them.

'Is that… a Demon soul?' Garl questioned in his head as his eyes widened behind his helmet's metal plating. "Stay behind me. This is an evil soul." he told the priestess as his grip tightened on his Bramd.

"No Garl… leave it be. I have come to a decision." Maiden Astraea told him with a voice that was just above a whisper.

"Dearest Astraea… it will corrupt you…" the holy knight spoke as he slowly looked over his armored shoulder at her.

"Just step aside… everything will be alright." she assured as she looked up at where his eyes would normally be.

Garl Vinland was very hesitant, but he trusted her more than anyone in the world. The only one who came close was his older sister. He just nodded to the priestess and slowly lowered his shield. He then took a few steps to the right, his armor clanking as he did so.

Once he was out of the way, the Demon soul slowly floated over to Maiden Astraea, who held open her hands for it to rest on. It did just that and she looked down at the glowing orb with a sad expression.

"I pledge myself to this Demon soul and the Old One, so that I may bring peace and love to the people of the Valley of Defilement. I wish to do what God refuses to do…" Maiden Astraea spoke softly with tears in her eyes.

Everyone watched as the Demon Soul glowed brightly by the end of her speech and soon enough, the sixth saint began to glow with power. She could feel as inhuman power began to course through her veins and mortality left her forever. She was now a Demon herself and the victims of the Valley's swamps grew fascinated by her. As she glowed with unholy energy, she slowly looked up at her protector.

"You don't have to stay here. I have committed the most shameful sin…" Maiden Astraea murmured as she used her right hand to wipe her tears away.

"I shall not leave you, Dearest Astraea. I took an oath to protect you from harm. And as I said before, I have been questioning God. If you were to ask me… he's abandoned us. Humanity is slowly dying and the giants of the north are now extinct." Garl Vinland spoke with a heavy frown behind his helmet.

The priestess was rather touched that he was willing to stay with her even after she willingly pledged herself to a Demon right in front of him. Slowly, she nodded her head before looking down at the powerful soul in her hands. Her bodyguard then sat down next to her and he looked up at the deformed men above them. They were all raising their hands, as if they were worshipping Maiden Astraea.

'I will end their suffering. I have to.' the sixth saint thought to herself as she closed her eyes.

No matter what happened or who tried to stop them, they wouldn't leave these people at the mercy of the plagues and poisons of the Valley. They were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to help everyone within the Valley of Defilement.

* * *

Many Years Later

Within the northern forests of Mirkwood, the Elves have learned of the Dwarves escape. They also learned that the mysterious human knight was missing too, which obviously angered Thranduil. The Elves were able to quickly discover that the Dwarves and knight were trying to escape down the river, so they were currently trying to chase the escapees.

Unfortunately, the Orcs had found the escaping Dwarves first and one of the Dwarves was even shot with an arrow. The Elves, Legolas and Tauriel, where leading a large group of Elves to fight the Orcs and hopefully recapture the Dwarves. However their first priority was to deal with the attacking Orcs.

Currently, the Dwarves, Bilbo, and the Boletarian knight were trapped in front of a gate. This gate blocked the barrels from continuing down the river and made them sitting ducks. Kili, the young black haired Dwarf, attempted to pull the lever on the stone walkway above the gate that would open their only escape route. However, one of the Orcs shot an arrow at him and the arrow was currently sticking out of his leg.

As the Elvish guards battled the Orcs around them, the young Dwarf painfully crawled over to the wooden lever and with every ounce of his strength, reached up and grabbed onto it. He grunted in pain as he let his body weight pull the lever down and the gate opened, allowing the barrels to continue down the river.

The barrels with the escaping group immediately went down a short waterfall and some of the Dwarves cried out in excitement and fear. A large Orc who was wielding a club made out of a large bone saw this and he snarled. He was the leader of the attacking Orcs and his name was Bolg.

"Abgur-do! (After them!)" the gray skinned Orc boomed in Orkish, gaining his followers' attention.

Before Fili's barrel could continue, he reached out and grabbed hold of some rocks. He worriedly looked up at his injured brother and saw that the dark haired Dwarf was crawling over to the edge of the walkway the lever was on.

"Kili!" he screamed before his brother dropped down in to his own barrel.

Kili hissed in pain as he landed on his injured leg and Tauriel, the captain of the guards, looked over at him with what looked like a worried expression. She had to quickly look away from him however when a single Orc tried to sneak up on her. Before it could attack however, she spun around and knocked it into the river with her bow.

The rest of the barrels fell down the waterfall and they went down the fast rapids. Bilbo kept a firm grip on the edge of the barrel he and the knight were in and he glanced at the human to see him take out what looked like a talisman with a spiked circular indent made of wood on it in his left hand. He chose to ignore it for now and looked ahead.

Borg led his group of Orcs on the side of the river and the group could hear them snarling with bloodlust above. Some of them were carrying bows and were about to take some shots at the escaping group, but the Elves wouldn't let them and continued the fight against the hostile Orcs.

When the barrel Bilbo and the knight were in evened out a little, he suddenly pointed his talisman of beasts at large group of Orcs who were about to shoot arrows at them. Everyone in the area suddenly heard the sound of a woman screaming in agony as a dark purple cloud enveloped the Orcs.

The Orcs looked around the dark cloud they were in and suddenly felt their bodies ache and their eyes water. Within moments, the archers fell to the ground and died on the spot. Some of the Elves and Orcs looked at the strange cloud before they continued attacking one another.

"What did you just do!?" Bilbo shouted over the loud river and fighting above.

"It's a spell! Poison Cloud!" the knight replied just as loudly.

The Hobbit decided not to ask anything else until they were safe and looked up at the fighting above. It seemed like the Elves were performing dances of death as they killed Orc after Orc. Not only that, but the Elves and Orcs were able to keep up with the barrels despite the battle.

Some of the Dwarves were able to pick up the Orcs' dropped weapons as they went and they too killed any Orc who got too close. The son of Thranduil, Legolas, actually jumped onto some of the Dwarves head and balanced on top of them in order to get a better shot at the Orcs with his bow. He would immediately jump off the Dwarves' heads however so he wouldn't accidentally hurt them too badly.

This all went on for several minutes until there were no more rocks or trees for the Orcs and Elves to follow the escaping group. Some of the Dwarves cheered when they saw that their pursuers were no longer following them and the knight put away his talisman of beasts. Bombur suddenly spoke up however, gaining everyone's attention.

"Who is that up ahead?" the overweight Dwarf with the red hair questioned.

Everyone in the group where Bombur was looking and the knight's eyes widened at what they saw. Garl Vinland in his Black Phantom form was standing on a rock up ahead and he was staring directly at the group.

Some of the Dwarves wanted to go over to him and ask him some questions while others wished to keep their distance because of his strange red aura and unnatural appearance. Thorin Oakenshield suddenly used his arms to paddle his barrel over to shore, so the others reluctantly did the same.

"This is not good…" the knight murmured so that only Bilbo could hear him.

"Why? Who is that man?" the Hobbit questioned as they paddled their way to shore too.

"Just stay behind me at all times and don't get close to him." the human replied quietly and they got out of their barrel.

Once the company was on dry land, they each looked at Garl Vinland, who was still quite a distance away. The group could tell from this distance that the strange man was a knight and was most likely human. Most of them thought that the armor he donned was rather strange as well.

Thorin was about to walk over to this new knight, but the knight from Boletaria raised his right arm to block the Dwarf's path. He looked up at the armored human with annoyance and silently demanded an explanation.

"That man is Garl Vinland… he and I have… unpleasant history together." the knight from Boletaria stated as he eyed the Black Phantom ahead of them.

"What kind of unpleasant history?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf, questioned quizzically.

"I killed him." the knight answered coldly, causing a cold chill to run down most of the company's spines.

"But if you killed him, then why is he here?" Bilbo asked as he stared at the Black Phantom, who was staring at them the entire time.

"That's… a complicated answer…" the armored human replied, but he wasn't entirely sure himself.

* * *

Garl Vinland watched as the short people he didn't recognize spoke to the Slayer of Demons. They couldn't see it because of his helmet, but he was looking at the Boletarian knight with hatred. He'd recognize that fluted armor anywhere.

Then the holy knight noticed that the knight had a Dark Silver Shield strapped to his back, yet that shield is a treasure of Vinland. This meant that the Slayer of Demons stole his shield from his corpse.

'You intrude upon our haven, kill me, have dearest Astraea kill herself… and now I find out that you looted my corpse? I hope the Old One consumes you and your soul, you bastard.' Garl cursed in his head as his grip tightened on his Bramd and Dark Silver Shield.

At that moment, Garl Vinland started to sprint towards the group, greatly surprising the Dwarves and Hobbit. It should've been impossible for someone wearing armor like that to move so fluently. Their reactions didn't matter to him however. They were with the one who ruined his life, so he was determined to kill all of them.

The Boletarian knight quickly reached over his back and unsheathed his bastard sword. He held the thick blade in both hands because he knew that a shield wouldn't do much to stop the hammer Garl was using.

When he was close enough, Garl Vinland raised his Bramd and swung it downwards to crush the closest Dwarf, Bifur. The Dwarf with the Orc axe embedded in his forehead gasped and leapt away just before the mighty hammer could hit him. When the Bramd hit the ground, the shockwave alone caused the old Dwarf to be flown even further away. Miraculously, he was still okay and he was able to stand with his cousin, Bofur's, help.

As this happened, Bilbo quickly unsheathed Elvish sword, Sting. Usually, the sword's blade would glow blue when Orcs were nearby, but something caught the Hobbit's attention. The blade was not glowing blue for some reason, it was glowing dark red.

Bilbo didn't have much time to think about this because he saw Garl Vinland running towards him. He gasped and raised his glowing blade to protect himself, but something roughly pushed him aside. He landed on the ground a few feet away with a grunt and looked up to see the Boletarian knight standing where he was just a few moments ago.

Garl Vinland raised his hammer to crush the one who ruined his life, but as he swung the Bramd downwards, the knight used the momentum to push the lethal weapon aside with his sword. As the Black Phantom stood stunned, the knight plunged his sword into the holy knight's stomach.

Red ectoplasm splattered out of Garl's back as the blade pierced completely through his body. What caught everyone's attention however was that as soon as the bastard sword stabbed into the Black Phantom, he became completely engulfed in flames.

"What sorcery is this? Is that sword enchanted with fire?" Thorin Oakenshield mumbled to himself as they all watched the knight force the Black Phantom to the ground.

The knight quickly pulled his bastard sword out of the Black Phantom and took several stepps back. As he did this, the fire extinguished itself. Despite having a blade completely through him and being lit on fire, Garl Vinland quickly stood up as if nothing happened. To everyone's confusion, he placed his Dark Silver Shield onto his back and used his now free left hand to take out a talisman of God.

The Boletarian knight speedily rolled away from the holy knight as the Black Phantom held up the Talisman. The others weren't sure what was going on, but they chose to step away from the dark ghost as a precaution.

Suddenly, a blue shockwave of holy power shot out in all directions with a large explosion. As Garl Vinland performed the God's Wrath Miracle, Kili, Kili, Nori, and Oin were flung away because they were too close and they landed on the ground with grunts of pain. Kili screamed in agony however because of both the holy attack and the wound in his leg he received earlier.

Once the Miracle subsided, the Black Phantom put away his holy talisman and took out his shield again. He saw the knight charge towards him with the bastard sword in his hands, so Garl raised his holy shield to block the attack. He flinched in pain however when something pierced through his chest and red ectoplasm sprayed out of him.

Garl Vinland slowly looked down at his chest to see a glowing red blade sticking out of his armored chest. With some struggle, he looked over his shoulder to see Bilbo behind him and from what he could see, the Hobbit seemed very frightened.

He was about to pull away from the Hobbit so he could turn around and attack, but the Boletarian knight swung his bastard sword in a horizontal swipe. When the large blade slashed through him, he was engulfed in flames once more.

When the flames died out and his two attackers pulled their blades away, Garl Vinland's muscles locked into place and he stared at the ground. His already cold body felt even colder as he felt his remaining life force fade away. He wanted to say something, anything to the one man who took everything away that he held dear to him, but he had no voice. Even with this extra power, he couldn't avenge his love.

Slowly, the Black Phantom fell to his knees, and then his hands so he was on all fours. At the last second, he finally fell down on to the ground. The company of Dwarves, Bilbo, and the knight watched as Garl Vinland's body was enveloped by red mist and soon enough, the mist itself faded away. There were two objects on the ground where he died however. His infamous Bramd and some kind of circular crest lied on the ground for all to see. And once Garl Vinland was no more, Bilbo's sword stopped glowing and returned to it's normal metallic color.

"I think it's over…" Ori, the red haired Dwarf, gasped in relief as his shoulders slumped.

"And look at this weapon! This beats the mace I used!" Nori, the Dwarf with the dark, braided beard, commented cheerfully.

Nori bent down and with some effort, picked up the Bramd with both hands. It was extremely heavy and he could tell it would be hard to use, but from what he's seen of it, it could do a lot of damage. But he knew that unlike Garl Vinland, he wouldn't be able to wield this monster with just one hand.

Some of the Dwarves complimented their companion for having the weapon, but the Boletarian knight ignored them. Instead, he snatched up the crest that Garl dropped and looked at it closely. As he did so, Thorin Oakenshield approached him.

"What kind of man was that? I know that nothing about that knight was natural." the leader of the Dwarven company spoke roughly, gaining everyone's attention.

"That's because he was a ghost… a Black Phantom to be exact." the knight replied simply and he put the crest in his leather pouch.

"You said you killed him before. Why? I demand an explanation." Thorin said quickly with a heavy frown.

"That's… a long story…" the armored human stated as he looked away at the river close by.

"Then give me an abridged explanation. I want to know what was trying to kill my company." the dark haired Dwarf told the human.

The knight sighed as he walked over to a nearby rock and sat down on it. Everyone gathered around him as he did so because they were fairly curious about this man's story.

"I am not from this place… I came to this place in search of allies because my home is being threatened by soul hungry Demons. I also came here to see if I could find allies." he explained, purposely being vague. "As for Garl Vinland… the Black Phantom, he was protecting one of the Demons and I killed him for it." he added quietly.

"Well, I wish we could help you, but we are on a quest ourselves." Balin replied, not seeing any reason to lie to the human.

Thorin quickly looked over at the older Dwarf and glared at him for telling this knight of their quest. Balin took the hint however and didn't say any more details.

'Coming to this place was a waste of my time.' the knight thought to himself with a sigh and he slowly took out a White Eye Stone. It looked just like his Blue and Black Eye Stones, but the rock's surface was obviously white. The Dwarves and lone Hobbit immediately noticed the stone and were about to ask about it, but something else quickly caught their attention.

The group looked over at Kili to see him groaning in pain while his brother, Fili, was checking the open wound on the younger Dwarf's leg.

"I'm fine, it's nothing…" Kili assured everyone when he saw them staring at him and his injury.

"On your feet." Thorin ordered as he slowly approached the downed Dwarf.

"Kili's wounded. His leg needs binding." Fili stated quickly as he looked up at his leader with a worried expression.

"There's an Orc pack at out tail. We keep moving." the Dwarf leader spoke roughly, yet calmly.

"To where?" Balin questioned curiously with a quizzical facial expression.

"To the mountain. We're so close." Bilbo answered and he glanced at the Misty Mountain that wasn't that far away from them.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it." the white bearded Dwarf countered with a frown.

"So then we go around it." the Hobbit suggested as if it was obvious.

"The Orcs will run us down as sure as daylight. We've no weapons to defend ourselves." Dwalin, the balding Dwarf, reasoned as he glanced at the large lake.

Thorin Oakenshield frowned heavily at this conversation, but one thing was certain. Time was not on their side. He quickly looked down at Kili and Fili before addressing them.

"Bind his leg quickly. You have two minutes." he told Fili with a stern expression.

"Binding his leg will only stop the bleeding. Your friend's been poisoned." the knight stated flatly as he looked down at his White Eye Stone.

"And how would you know that?" Thorin questioned as he glared at the armored human sitting on the rock.

"He's showing the early signs of poisoning. I have some herbs that can help him back where I come from…" the knight replied and he slowly looked up at the Dwarf.

"We have no time to go to your home, wherever that is." the Dwarf leader spoke harshly, making it obvious that he didn't trust the human man.

"This stone I'm holding can bring us there. If you help me slay a Demon or two at my home, then I will cure your friend of his poisoning." the armored human offered after a few moments of thought.

Thorin Oakenshield had to resist the urge to snap at the knight. He didn't want to waste his and his men's time by helping some stranger with this "Demon" problem, but he didn't want to risk Kili dying from the poison coursing through his veins. Finally, the Dwarf came to a decision.

"As long as you heal him first, you have a deal." Thorin stated emotionlessly, honestly surprising some of the Dwarves with his answer.

"Very well. Get close to me; all of you." the knight told everyone as his grip on the stone he was holding tightened.

Everyone hesitantly did as instructed and Fili helped Kili limp over to the human. Once he deemed them close enough, the knight rested his left hand on his balled right hand. A white light suddenly began to emit from the White Eye Stone he was holding and he suddenly pulled his arms apart. As he did so, he stretched out his arms and a white flash blinded everyone. When the light faded away, everyone was gone.


	5. A Dying World

**Kwai kwai everyone! Garl Vinland may be dead… again, but that doesn't mean that his part in this story is over. You'll know what I mean later on. And I'm not sure about you readers, but I find the thought of Nori wielding Garl's Bramd to be humorous. The description of the weapon in the game even says this, "A dreadfully enormous course-iron hammer. One of Vinland's treasures. It's distortion is the mark of an old giant killer, and it increases the wielder's resistance to plague and poison. Even so, it is difficult to use even with both hands if the wielder has normal human strength." That's a tough weapon for a short Dwarf to use, but I think Nori can handle it. Anyway, remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 5: A Dying World

Within the Nexus, everyone who was taking refuge from the Demons were performing their usual activities. Blacksmith Baldwin was forging weapons, the priests of the holy church were praying to their God, the magicians were reading about magic, and everyone else was resting.

A greenish blue mist rose up from the floor in front of the great magician, Sage Freke. The old hooded man slowly looked up from the book he was reading to watch the mist and he smiled as the knight materialized a few feet away from him. He also couldn't help, but noticed the Hobbit and thirteen Dwarves that were with him.

"Hahaha! Bravo! You did it, my boy!" the old magician said cheerfully as he put down his book and slowly stood up.

Thorin Oakenshield and the others of his company were quite confused with what just happened, but they could only guess that the human knight used some kind of magic to bring them to… wherever it is they were at. The Dwarf leader decided to address the hooded human not too far away and walked up to him.

"What is your name, Wizard?" Thorin questioned with a straight face; he could tell that this man was a magic user just by looking at him.

"I prefer the term, magician, myself. Ah, but my name is Freke. Sage Freke, the Visionary." The hooded human greeted with a kind smile before he turned to look at the knight. "And I see that you were successful with obtaining allies." he stated, never losing his warm smile.

"With all due respect, one of my men is poisoned and needs medical attention." the Dwarf leader spoke quickly and somewhat rudely.

The sage frowned at this, but he quickly noticed the young Dwarf, Kili, being supported by Fili and Ori. He knew personally how deadly poison could be. He did own a baby's nail dagger after all, which was a weapon that instantly poisoned anyone who was struck by the lethal blade.

"There are three very simple ways to cure poison. There's a flower royal lotus. It's crimson in color and commonly carried by nobles. There's also dark moon grass, but that's a very rare herb. You could also go to those priests of the church to have them perform a curing Miracle for you." Sage Freke explained, but he spoke the last sentence with bitterness.

"I have plenty of royal lotuses packed away with Stockpile Thomas." the knight spoke quickly, yet quietly.

"Alright. Fili, Ori, help Kili to this 'Stockpile Thomas' and get him healed." Thorin Oakenshield ordered as he looked over at the three Dwarves.

Fili and Ori nodded in understanding before the three Dwarves began to follow the knight away from the group. They walked passed Sage Freke's apprentice, but no words were exchanged. They silently walked around the stone column to see the main room of the Nexus. The three Dwarves looked around the massive room with awe and just barely kept up with the knight.

The group of four made their way towards a single human man with large bags and crates around him. This man was sitting on one of the crates and his hands were clasped over each other. His skin was white and he had short, light brown hair. He was also wearing leather armor that hunters in the area usually wore.

It didn't take long for the human man to notice the group and he smiled when he saw the familiar knight. He didn't recognize the three Dwarves, but that didn't matter to him. He treated everybody equally.

"Thank goodness you are safe! I was worried sick about you." the man clad in leather armor spoke as he looked into the knight's dark eyes.

"I'm fine, Thomas. Could you do me a favor and fetch me one of my royal lotuses?" the knight requested with a certain gentleness in his voice that the Dwarves have never heard from the armored man before.

Stockpile Thomas nodded before he reached over towards one of the nearby bags and opened it. He dug his hand into the bag and searched around for a bit before he pulled his hand out, revealing that he was holding a crimson red lotus. He held his open hand out and the knight gently grabbed the flower.

"Alright, all you have to do is eat this." the knight stated calmly as he turned around to look at Kili and he placed the royal lotus in the Dwarf's hand.

"Eat a flower? Are you mad?" Fili asked with disbelief.

"Brother… it's okay. I trust these people." Fili's younger brother spoke with a tired tone of voice.

After he said that, Kili slowly raised the royal lotus to his lips and without a second thought, dropped it into his open mouth. He shuttered as he awkwardly started chewing the plant and he could feel some strange liquid leaking out from the flower peddles. As he chewed, a strange purple light briefly flashed around his body, but it quickly faded away. He soon swallowed the flower with a shiver and he instantly felt his strength return to him.

"Well? How do you feel?" Fili asked him, worry evident in his tone of voice and facial expression.

"I'm fine brother. I feel good as new." Kili assured with a smile and he was able to stand on his own.

This caused everyone, but he knight to smile. The now healed Dwarf then looked at Stockpile Thomas and nodded in thanks.

"Thank you, Thomas. My name is Kili, by the way. This is my brother, Kili, and my friend, Ori." the dark haired Dwarf introduced the other Dwarves.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. As you all probably already know, I'm Stockpile Thomas. I've been here at this Nexus ever since the Scourge came." the hunter replied warmly, but the group noticed some sadness in his voice towards the end.

"What is the Scourge?" Ori, the baby-faced Dwarf, questioned with honest curiosity.

"Not from Boletaria, are you? The Scourge is basically what we call the rising of the Demons and the colorless fog. The Demons have taken over great Boletaria and have either killed everyone or made them go mad. I… I lost my wife and daughter to the Demons. The Demons were just too powerful to fight… so I just ran. They're both gone because I couldn't defend them…" Thomas told them with a shaky voice and he looked down at his hands, revealing that he was holding a jade hairpin, the same that his daughter once wore.

The knight lowered his head in respect and the three Dwarves looked at the hunter with wide eyes. When they first heard about Demons in this place, they had no idea that the Demons would've caused such sadness towards once man. And this was just one person. They had to think; what of everyone else? What is going on in this place?

"I-I'm sorry… I'm babbling. Is there anything else you needed?" Stockpile Thomas questioned as he slowly looked up at them, but the knight silently shook his head, no. "Very well. You four have hearts of gold. Don't let them take it from you." he told the group as he slowly clasped his hands again, hiding his daughter's hairpin from view.

Not knowing what to say, the Dwarves just nodded before they followed the knight back towards the column where the magicians stayed. They could see Sage Freke had just finished saying something and while the Dwarves and Hobbit seemed interested in what he had to say, Thorin appeared to be annoyed.

"Knight; this man is claiming that we're in a completely different world from Arda and Middle-Earth." the Dwarf with dark eyes stated once he noticed the knight, Kili, Fili, and Ori return.

"That's because he's telling you the truth. I used a magical White Eye Stone to bring you to my world." the human knight replied as if it was no big deal.

"We were so close to the mountain, but now we're so far…" Bilbo murmured quietly with a disappointed frown, but he was amazed that they were in a whole other world.

"My boy, have you told these gentlemen of our plight?" Sage Freke questioned as he looked over at the knight.

"I told them that we are under threat by the Demons." the armored man answered quietly.

The great sage frowned before he turned his head to look at the Dwarves and line Hobbit. This meant that he had much to explain.

"Allow me to give me to give you a brief explanation of our situation. There is an ancient Demon that supposedly lives below this Nexus called the Old One. The Old One is a powerful creature that usually slumbers. But it has recently been awoken, causing a deep fog to envelope the entire kingdom of Boletaria, the Northern Lands of the Giants, and Latria. It is said that King Allant the XII of Boletaria awakened the old one, but that's according to rumors. Anyway, the deep fog brought vicious Demons to these lands and they've attacked the sane, stealing their souls in the process. When one loses their soul, they become mad and they attack anyone who dares to cling to their souls. That's why we're here in this Nexus, you see. This place is a safe haven from the Demons. There are those like our knight friend here who travel outside these walls to fight the Demons though." Sage Freke, the Visionary explained to them all.

"Well, I can see why you tried to find help." Bombur, the obese Dwarf, commented and the Dwarves glanced at one another.

Thorin Oakenshield sighed through his nose before he slowly turned to look at the knight. He could tell that these people were in a desperate situation. If he and his company weren't currently trying to retake their home, he might've had more enthusiasm with helping to rid this world of Demons.

"Did you heal Kili?" he questioned with a flat tone of voice.

"Don't worry, I'm good as new!" the young Dwarf spoke up with a smile and he puffed his chest out a little.

Thorin just nodded before he started speaking again.

"Alright, knight. What will you have us do?" the Dwarf leader questioned curiously.

"I'm going to have my armor repaired before we head out. Feel free to look around while you wait." the slayer of Demons replied quickly.

And with that said, the knight turned away and started to walk around the column, his armor clanking as he did so. With nothing better to do, the Dwarves and Hobbit immediately split up to look around the ancient Nexus.

* * *

It was raining heavily in the Valley of Defilement and like always, the rocks of the Valley blocked out the sun. Most of the lower portions of the Valley were shrouded with swamps. The water in these swamps were very poisonous because of all the filth that was dumped there. There were small islands however that allowed people to walk about without getting wet from the poisonous water.

On one of these small islands, a young woman could be seen walking about. This woman was wearing metal armor that was dull gold in color. The suit of armor also came with a helmet that protected the top of the wearer's head and the back of her neck. There were also small wings made of metal on the sides of the gold colored helmet. The woman's skin was pale white and some strands of brown hair could be seen on the sides of her face. The last key feature of this woman was the sword she was holding.

The blade she was holding was a sword with an almost clear blade and the weapon seemed to be light as a feather judging by the way it's wielder was holding it. This weapon was called Blind and it was one of Vinland's great treasures. And it's wielder was named Selen Vinland, older sister of Garl Vinland.

Selen came to the cursed land of Boletaria with one goal in mind, to find her brother and Saint Astraea. She wasn't sent by the church however, she came to Boletaria for much more personal reasons. Her search eventually led her to the Valley of Defilement. She's been searching the poisonous swamps for what seemed like weeks now, but she's been having no luck.

The holy knight sighed quietly as she stepped off of the little island and into the murky water. It wouldn't take long for the poison to start taking affect, so Selen rushed forward and kept a firm grip on Blind just in case.

'Why would Garl and Saint Astraea come to this foul place? This is no place for such good people.' she thought to herself as she ran.

Selen Vinland noticed some jellyfish-like creatures floating in the water towards her, but she ignored them and continued forward. She saw some large rocks that appeared to be a nature staircase ahead and ran towards it. Just when she began to feel the poison's affects, she made it to the rocks and began to climb up them. It didn't take her long to reach the top of the staircase and she paused to catch her breath.

The staircase led to a rocky ledge sticking out from the side of the Valley and there was a narrow path she could take. Selen just had to be careful because the path was so narrow and the rocks were kind of slippery.

'I recognize this place. Dammit, this is where I came from.' the holy knight cursed in her head as her shoulders slumped a little.

Selen Vinland decided to follow the path anyway just in case her brother and the sixth saint where down that way. She made her way down the path for awhile until she came upon a large platform with a waterfall on the edge of it. This waterfall didn't concern her however and she walked down a cave to her right. The cave she was now walking down had muddy water in it, but this water wasn't' poisonous or filled with plague, much to her relief.

The holy knight stopped in her tracks when she spotted something half buried in the mud ahead of her. There was a circular stone with some kind of sword or rapier lodged into it. Selen knew exactly what this stone was. It was a piece of an Archstone that was connected to the fabled Nexus.

"Did Garl and Saint Astraea go to the Nexus?" the holy knight thought to herself as she slowly approached the Archstone.

Without really thinking, Selen Vinland rested her bare hand on the lodged rapier's hilt. All of a sudden, a bluish green mist enveloped her body and within moments, she was gone without a trace.

* * *

Back in the Nexus, a blue-green mist began to appear in front of the Archstone with the image of the chieftain carved into it. All of the Dwarves panicked upon seeing the mist and withdrew what weapons they had, but everyone else simply glanced at the mist. The Dwarves lowered their guard however when a woman materialized in the mist, Selen Vinland.

Selen groaned quietly as the mist faded away and she stood up straight. It didn't take her long to realize that the Archstone teleported her to a completely different place. But she recognized these walls immediately.

'The Nexus! I never thought I'd ever come here.' she thought to herself as she looked up at the dark gray walls and she began to walk down the short set of stairs to the main floor.

As she did this, the Dwarves quickly sheathed their weapons, but most of them were still on edge because this mysterious woman was still holding her sword, albeit casually. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she began to notice everyone in the Nexus, namely the Dwarves.

'Do they have a birth defect?' Selen Vinland asked in her head, noticing how short the Dwarves were.

As she thought this, Thorin Oakenshield cautiously approached her. He really didn't like that she was still holding her sword.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the Dwarf leader questioned, wishing got make sure that she wouldn't cause any trouble.

At first, the holy knight was confused by this short man's aggressiveness. She then noticed that he was occasionally glancing at Blind, which she was still holding in her right hand. Not wanting to start a fight with a sane person, she sheathed her crystal clear sword.

"I am Selen, of the West." the holy knight introduced herself with a slight nod, earing some of the others' attention. "I seek my brother, Garl Vinland, the knight who accompanied Saint Astraea on her travels." she explained.

This gained all of Thorin's company's attention and they all flinched upon the mere mention of Garl Vinland. Everyone started to mumble amongst themselves and the slayer of Demons walked over to Thorin and Selen. Nori, who was still holding Garl Vinland's Bramd, chose to attempt to hide the massive weapon behind his back so she wouldn't see it.

"You're brother?" the knight asked and his dark brown eyes were widened slightly within his helmet's eye holes.

"Yes, my brother. I believe he and Saint Astraea settled here, in Boletaria. If you happen to see my younger brother, please tell me. I must share with him the last words of our father." Selen Vinland requested kingly with what looked like a sad smile.

Thorin Oakenshield frowned heavily and looked away briefly. Selen noticed this and frowned as well, knowing that they knew something.

"What is it? Have you seen my brother?" the holy knight asked hopefully and with eagerness in her voice.

No one said a word because no one knew exactly what to tell her. Instead, the Boletarian knight slowly reached into his leather pouch and pulled out the crest that her dead brother dropped after they were forced to slay him. He then held out his hand so she could take it. She gasped upon seeing it and slowly snatched it from his open hand.

"This crest! That is a Vinland heirloom meant for my younger brother. So… my brother and Astraea have both strayed from the path of God…" Selen realized as tears began to form in her eyes. "The poor souls. Perhaps their hearts were too pure… Umbasa…" she quietly prayed at the end.

Everyone who was listening in looked at the holy woman with sad expressions. Even Thorin felt sorry for her lost, even if her brother did try to kill his men. He knew that this must've been hard for her.

"O traveling warriors, I hesitate to ask, but can you part with this crest? Garl has strayed from the path of righteousness, but I wish to have the heirloom… in honor of our Vinland blood. I shall reward you in kind." the holy knight requested with a hopeful tone of voice.

"Keep it. It belongs to your kin." Thorin Oakenshield quickly replied, his voice sounding gentle.

"Thank you, kind warrior. As Garl's sister, I express my deepest thanks for your honoring his name." Selen Vinland thanked with a smile and she then pulled a white silver ring out of her pocket. "Please accept this. It was intended for my brother, but now it should belong to you and your friend here. Umbasa." she told them, truly wanting them to take it.

Thorin had no interest in the ring and didn't want a reward, but the knight accepted the ring and nodded as he took it from her open hand. He then looked down at it and immediately recognized it. This was a ring of devout prayer, which was a very rare item. This ring would gift eh wearer with increased knowledge of holy Miracles. Since he didn't use Miracles however, he didn't' see much point of having it, but he chose to pocket it regardless.

"What will you do now?" Bilbo spoke up from behind Thorin, feeling terrible for the poor girl's loss.

"Me? I… I'm going to go home, I think. I'll rest in the Nexus for a bit before heading out." Selen Vinland told the Hobbit before she slowly walked passed them and made her way to a corner to be alone.

No one tried to stop her and everyone bowed their heads in respect. After a short moment of silence, Thorin Oakenshield looked over at the knight.

"Alright, where are we to go?" he asked roughly with a frown.

"We're going to the Tower of Latria, which is just south of Boletaria. I already defeated one of the Demons there, so that means we'll only have to worry about two of them." the armored human answered and he started to walk towards the staircase that Selen walked down earlier.

The Dwarves noticed him moving, so they chose to follow close behind him. As they walked up the steps, the Maiden in Black stood in the shadows, overhearing everything that had just happened. To say that she wasn't pleased with these current events would be an understatement. She chose not to do anything about this however because it wasn't her business to interfere with mortal affairs unless those mortals were Demon slayers.

Back with the group however, they all stopped in front of the Archstone of the wise looking queen. The Dwarves and Hobbit looked at the strange structure with curiosity before they all looked at the knight, expecting an explanation.

"What is this thing?" Fili was the one to ask the obvious question.

"This is an Archstone. We're going to use it to teleport to the Tower of Latria." the armored man explained simply.

"So, like how you brought us here in the first place?" Bofur, the Dwarf with the hat, questioned with interest.

"It's a similar concept, yes, but we are going to stay in this particular world. We're just going to the southern kingdom of Latria." the knight explained before he rested his armored hand on the Archstone's surface.

Immediately after he touched the stone's surface, his body was enveloped by a blue-green mist and he dematerialized. Thorin's company was about to do the same, but a bald man wearing black leather armor stopped them.

"Oh, you guys are new here, right? Mind if I have a quick word?" the man asked cheerfully as he looked up at the,; he was crouched down not too far away from the Latria Archstone.

"We are in a hurry, so please be brief." Thorin replied quickly as he turned to look at the bald man.

"First of all, pleased to meet you all. They call me Patches, the Hyena. Kehahahahahehehe!" the man, now identified as Patches, greeted cheerfully. "But in all seriousness, I have bad news for you all." he added after his laughing fit and his tone immediately changed to a cold one.

"What kind of bad news?" Bilbo asked, speaking what everyone was thinking.

"There's a rumor that the silent chief, Yurt, has infiltrated Boletaria. Yurt's a mercenary; he'd kill his own kin for the right price. Now, I'm not a saint, just ask your knight friend, but compared to Yurt… I'm as saintly as they come! So I implore you to stay away from Yurt, the assassin in black." the bald man told them all.

"…Fine, we'll keep that in mind." Thorin Oakenshield stated after a short pause, earning a nod from the crouched over human.

"I hope you do. Oh, and be sure not to get yourselves killed!" Patches, the Hyena replied cheerfully with a big smile.

The Dwarves and Hobbit were a little weirded out by this strange man, but they all took his warning very seriously. They all kept the name, Yurt, in the back of their minds. And with that, they each laid a hand on the large Archstone one at a time. When they each touched the stone, they faded away in a bluish green mist, being teleported to the Tower of Latria.


	6. Prepare to Die

**Kwai kwai everyone! Well, the group is now in the Tower of latria, which is probably one of the most atmospheric places in all of Demon's Souls; if not, the most atmospheric. And if you readers haven't noticed by now, the storyline and lore behind the game is very depressing and dark. At least we've got a bunch of Dwarves and a Hobbit to brighten the mood. Ah, I'm blabbering now, so let's get on with the chapter. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 6: Prepare to Die

The Tower of Latria consisted of tall towers with large chains connecting them to the main tower where the ivory queen once lived. The skies were dark from the knight and very cloudy, which blocked out even the moonlight and stars. And not only were large chains connecting the towers, but narrow skybridges as well.

One of the towers had a circular shard of the Archstone with a sword pierced into it on it's walkway. The knight was standing near the Archstone with his knight sword drawn and he was holding his Dark Silver Shield with his left hand. He looked over at the stone as a large mass of blue-green mist rose up and Thorin's company materialized in front of him.

"What took you so long?" the armored man questioned with a raised eyebrow behind his helmet's eyehole.

"A man who calls himself Patches, the Hyena told us to watch out for someone." Thorin Oakenshield answered as all of the Dwarves and Bilbo looked at the surreal environment around them.

"Just ignore him. That man is more trouble than he's worth." the knight told everyone and if they looked through his helmet's eye holes, they could see him roll his eyes.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf, questioned with a curious expression, wondering why the human was so quick to shrug off a possible warning.

"That man has tried to get me killed twice now; once by trapping me at a dead end with a monster known as a bearbug, and the other by kicking me down a hole and leaving me trapped with a Black Phantom. And the crazy bastard considers us friends… The only reason why I'm letting him live is because every human life is precious now that we're under threat of extinction. That and he's also willing to sell his wares to me." the armored human answered emotionlessly.

Right after the knight said that, he turned around and commenced to walk down a set of stone stairs. The stairs led to a skybridge that connected the tower they were on to another tower not too far away.

Thorin and his company looked at one another before they unsheathed what weapons they had left and followed their human companion. Because the skybridge was so narrow, they each had to walk two at a time. A few of the Dwarves looked over the railingless ledge to see that they were extremely high up in the air. And because it was night, none of them could even see the ground.

The large group made it to a platform on the other side of the skybridge and to their right, there was another skybridge. This one led to a much thicker and taller tower than the one they came from however and there was something hanging off the side of it. The thing was hanging from large chains and the thing itself looked like a massive heart.

"By the Valar, what is that thing?" Bilbo asked as they all stared at the massive heart-like object in the distance.

"I have no idea, but it's blocking the upper levels of that tower. If I were to guess, I'd say we have to find a way to sever those chains suspending it in the air so we can get to the Demon in this place." the knight hypothesized as the grip tightened on his sword.

No one in the group argued with this logic because they had no better ideas. They then began to walk down the skybridge that led to the tower with the massive heart. They passed a few gargoyle statues on podiums above them as they walked. Those statues only seemed to make the group even wearier than they already were.

Each of the statues were humanoid in shape and had bat-like wings. Even though they were crouched down, the group could tell that they were at least a foot taller than the average human; that is, if they could stand up. The statues also had jutting out chins, stubby tails, and pointed ears. Rusty metal nails could also be seen sticking into their shoulders and foreheads; it was as if they were tortured or something. Lastly, spiral bladed rapiers could be seen in their right hands.

All of a sudden, one of the statues twitched, catching the group by surprise and one of the Dwarves even gasped. The statue's eyes began to glow red and it flapped it's wings a few times. The knight quickly placed his shield onto his back and took out his talisman of beasts. He was planning on shooting the creature with a Soul Ray spell.

Before he could fire off his spell, the gargoyle released an inhuman screech and took flight with it's bat-like wings. It then flew away and into the darkness of the night, but the group could still hear it's flapping wings, which meant that it was still very close. The Dwarves frantically looked around for the creature and they each held their weapons firmly.

Another vicious screech was heard as the gargoyle quickly flew towards Nori and attempted to stab him with it's spiral rapier. Before the blade could connect however, the Dwarf with the braided beard roared a battle cry as he raised Garl Vinland's Bramd and swung it downwards. The heavy hammer hit the gargoyle's lower back and it screeched in pain as it was forced to the ground with a sickening crack.

Nori stepped away while he held the heavy weapon with both hands, but everyone watched with mixed expressions as the gargoyle quickly stood up despite the devastating blow it just received.

The creature growled as it lunged forward again, but it's spiral blade missed it's target when Thorin grabbed Nori's shoulder and roughly pulled him away from the monster. As the creature pulled it's weapon back again, the knight pointed his talisman of beasts at it and a blue Soul Ray shot out of the talisman.

A spear of blue light soured through the air and pierced right into the gargoyle's chest. At that moment, the creature quickly looked up towards the sky and screamed loudly before it fell over and onto it's stomach. This time however, it didn't move.

Thorin's company didn't notice because they were too flabbergasted at the creature, but the knight automatically absorbed the creature's soul as soon as it died. This always happened when a creature with a soul died around him.

"Is it dead?" Bilbo asked a little shakily as he very firmly held his sword, Sting.

"Yes, I believe so, master Baggins." Thorin Oakenshield replied with a frown as they all looked down at the dead monster.

Glóin, the Dwarf with the thick brown beard, crouched down next to the corpse and picked up it's spiral rapier. As he stood up again, he examined the rather unique blade and to say the least, he wasn't pleased.

"With the way this blade is shaped, it's not meant to deliver much damage, lads. This sword was built to inflict pain… to make the victim suffer." Glóin informed everyone with a heavy frown behind his thick beard.

"Leave the weapon behind. We're warriors, not torture artists." Thorin stated sternly, not liking the description of the rapier at all.

The brown haired Dwarf nodded in understanding before he held the spiral rapier over the skybridge's ledge and dropped it. He didn't even bother to watch it fall to the ground below.

With that done, the group of fifteen continued town the skybridge; none of them speaking a word. As they walked, the Dwarf leader noticed a yellow light coming from two towers in the distance. He wasn't sure what that meant, but they looked important. So, he made a mental note to have everyone check out those mysterious lights.

* * *

In the Nexus, Selen Vinland was sitting in a corner by herself. Some of the holy saints who were taking refuge in the Nexus attempted to speak comforting words to her, but she would politely ask them to leave her alone whenever they tried.

The only thing the holy knight could think about was her family. Her father recently passed away and now her own brother was dead. These two tragedies filled her heart with emotional pain. And to top all of this off, she had no idea what she was supposed to do now.

As Selen thought about these depressing thoughts, someone approached her. When she heard the heavy footsteps, she looked up to see Sage Freke, the Visionary standing over her. She could barely see it because of the shadows under his hood, but he was smiling kindly to her. She found this rather odd however because he and the magicians weren't known for being too friendly with those of the church like she was. Their different opinions tore them apart.

"Hello there. I would like to make a proposal to you." he greeted, never losing that smile.

The holy knight raised an eyebrow at this and she slowly stood up. She was honestly curious with what the famous magician had to say. So, she nodded to urge him to continue while she stared into his shadowed over eyes.

"There is an item I require for one of my experiments, but I cannot get it within this Nexus. So I must ask, could you bring me a Black Eye Stone? I would be happy to compensate you for your efforts." the great sage requested hopefully.

"Why ask me? And I don't even know where I would find a Black Eye Stone." Selen stated with a straight face.

Unlike most holy knights and priests, who would've declined his offer on the spot, she was actually considering it. She honestly didn't care about the reward, but she just liked to help people when they needed it. That and she wanted to do something to keep her mind off of her recently deceased family members.

"I've decided to ask you because I have recently asked a lot of that knight you just finished speaking to and my apprentice is a little… cautious of leaving this Nexus. You also seem like a strong young woman. As for how you can acquire a Black Eye Stone, I have heard rumors that some Black Phantoms carry them." Sage Freke explained to her as he slowly clasped his hands together.

"You want me to vanquish a dark soul to get you a stone? Well, I believe I saw a Black Phantom back in the Valley of Defilement, but I avoided it when I first spotted it. But if you require an Eye Stone, then I will relieve it of it's suffering and bring you your stone." the armored woman replied calmly before she gently bowed her head.

"Excellent! That will help me to a great degree. Come and find me when you have it. I assure you that I'll reward you for this kindness. Oh and also, thank you for not being quick to judge me and my opposing views on life. I appreciate it to a great degree." Freke stated with an even bigger smile than before.

With that said; the Visionary turned around and commenced to walk back to the column he usually sat next to. Selen just sighed quietly before she made her way towards the Archstone that would bring her to the Valley of Defilement. She really didn't want to go back to that swamp, but she figured that it would be better to search for a Black Phantom where she was at least somewhat familiar with the landmarks.

When she was in front of the Archstone of the chieftain, she gently rested her hand on the magical stone and she was quickly enveloped in the artifact's magical mist. The next thing she knew, she was back in the Valley of Defilement, right where she found the shard of Archstone with the rapier pierced through it.

Selen quickly unsheathed her sword, Blind, at that moment and held it firmly in her right hand. She also held her talisman of God in her left hand so she was ready to perform Miracles.

When the holy knight felt like she was ready, she made her way back through the dark tunnel she originally came from until she was out in the open rain. She turned right and made her way down the muddy road and it didn't take her long to reach the poison swamp.

'I hate this place. No such place should exist.' Selen thought to herself while she stepped into the murky black water.

As she did so, the poison in the deadly water began to course through her body, which would slowly kill her if left untreated. The holy knight didn't waste any time and quickly made her way towards the closest island, trudging through the knee-deep swamp as she did so. Various jellyfish-like monsters floated above the water's surface, but she ignored them. Each time she reached one of the islands, she would use the Miracle, Cure, the get rid of the poison in her system. After doing this, she would rush to the next island.

This continued for awhile and Selen ran from island to island. She suddenly stopped on one of the islands however when she saw a red glow somewhere ahead of her. Her grip tightened on her sword, Blind, as she very cautiously moved closer and closer to the light.

The holy knight was soon able to see that the light was in the shape of a human woman. The woman wore a dark dress that was ripped and tattered beyond repair. She also seemed to have light colored hair, possibly blonde. Her whole body was darkened with black splotches coursing over her form. She also had a glowing red aura, indicating that she was a Black Phantom.

What stood out however was the weapon that the Black Phantom was holding. She was wielding an extremely large Meat Cleaver in just one hand. The weapon was so massive however that she had to rest the blunted end on her shoulder in order to hold it properly. Despite the red aura around it, bloodstains from previous kills could be seen covering the large blade.

Selen watched as the Meat Cleaver Black Phantom walked around the swamp, as if patrolling the area for those who dared cling to their souls. The holy knight wasn't sure if she would survive this, but she would challenge this Black Phantom either way. If she survived, then she could give Sage Freke his Black Eye Stone. If she died, then she would be reunited with her family.

* * *

Thorin's company had been traveling around the various skybridges in Latria for about an hour now and they were in a tower that was quite a ways away from the main tower with the heart-like thing hanging off of it. The group had realized that the knight was right and that the knight was right and that the heart was blocking their path to the large tower's upper level. So now they were trying to find a way to break the chains suspending it in the air.

On their journey through the various towers and skybridges, they fought more gargoyles with spiral rapiers and some even had crossbows. The Dwarves and Bilbo soon learned that these monsters were much more durable than Orcs and it took more effort to bring the gargoyles down.

The group of fifteen was currently on a mechanical elevator that was very cramped. They could barely fit on it together and many of them complained as they went upwards. Once the elevator reached the top of the tower however, they all rushed off of the elevator before it automatically went downwards again.

They looked out in front of them to see a rather bizarre sight. Four extremely skinny men could be seen circled around what looked like a large fire with a bright yellow beam of magical energy shooting up into the sky. These four humans had their arms raised into the air, as if praising the light and their skin was extremely pale. They wore tattered rags for clothes and metal cuffs could be seen around their wrists, indicating that they were prisoners.

The knight firmly held his sword as he approached one of the defenseless men and stabbed him through the back. The prisoner moaned in agony as the blade was pierced through him and a swift kick from the armored knight sent him to the ground with a thud. Thorin and his company were so surprised by the heartless reaction that they held up their weapons threateningly.

"What do you think you're doing!?" the Dwarf leader demanded furiously and the other three prisoners continued to stare into the glowing yellow beam of magic.

"Relieving them of their suffering. You don't understand, these people have been tortured beyond hope for years. Killing them is an act of mercy." the knight stated emotionlessly without a single trace of regret.

"That doesn't mean you can just kill them outright." Thorin replied sternly and many of the others nodded in agreement.

"They can't be helped. If you don't like this, then kill me." the armored human said almost challengingly before he approached another prisoner and stabbed the defenseless man in the gut.

"STOP!" Nori boomed as he stepped forward and firmly held Garl Vinland's Bramd.

"No." the knight murmured coldly before he rushed towards a third prisoner and sliced the man's throat with his sword.

This was the final straw for the Dwarves and the Dwarf with the braided beard suddenly swung the Bramd in a horizontal swing. The knight noticed the attack and quickly dodged to the side. He landed on the floor a few feet away with a roll, but Nori's eyes widened as the large hammer smashed into the remaining prisoner. The hammer hit the tortured man with such force that he was flung clean off of the tower and he fell to his death.

Before anyone could comment on this, the magical yellow beam in the center of the tower they were on faded away. Once this happened, one of the large chains suspending the heart-like thing at the main tower broke, causing the massive object to slide downwards quite a bit. Before it fell completely however, the remaining chain held the strange thing in place.

"They were… halting out progress…" Bilbo realized with wide eyes and he glance at one of the dead prisoners on the floor.

"These people have lost their souls during their constant torture. The only thing they know of is obedience towards the one who's been torturing them." the knight explained as he slowly stood up and rolled his shoulders.

"But… who would do such an awful thing to innocent people?" Fili asked with a look of horror.

"I don't know… but I have my hypotheses'." the armored human replied quietly before he turned around to look away from everyone else. "I'll explain later." he stated.

After he said that, the knight began to walk towards another skybridge. The others just looked at one another before they followed after him. Nori wanted to apologize for attacking the knight, but he didn't have the heart to say anything at the moment.

The skybridge they walked down was completely destroyed ahead of them however, but there was another skybridge directly below them. Without even hesitating, the human jumped down to the bridge below.

Thorin and his company hesitated for fear of missing the narrow bridge completely and falling to their deaths, but they wouldn't let fear stop them from continuing on. Thorin Oakenshield was the first to drop down and one by one, the rest of the Dwarves dropped down too. When it was time for Bilbo to drop down, he just looked down at the others below.

"Just jump, master Baggins! We'll catch you!" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf, called out and the other Dwarves sheathed their weapons so they could easily catch the Hobbit.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." the Hobbit mumbled to himself before he took a deep breath to steady his nerves and jumped.

Bilbo fell down to the skybridge below and just as Balin promised, most of the Dwarves held their hands out to catch him. When he landed I their grasp, they quickly set him down on his feet.

"Thank you." Bilbo Baggins said gratefully with a nod of appreciation.

"Our pleasure." Bombur, the overweight Dwarf, replied with a cheeky smile.

A loud screech was heard all of a sudden and the sound of wing flaps came closer and closer to their position. At that moment, a crossbow bolt flew through the air and hit the knight's shoulder. This caused him to grunt in pain as a small cloud of blood erupted from his shoulder. Despite this wound, he still stood with his sword at the ready.

Three gargoyles flew out of the darkness of the night at that moment and their eyes glowed red with hate and agony. Two of them were carrying spiral rapiers while the third one was holding a crossbow made out of gray stone, which it was currently reloading with another bolt.

"Not these things again!" Kili shouted in frustration as those with weapons adopted combat stances.

Despite the battle ready Dwarves; the tortured monsters seemed to be more interested in their injured prey. The one with the crossbow took aim and fired another bolt at the human, but he quickly held up his Dark Silver Shield to block the attack. But one of the other gargoyles rushed behind him and stabbed him in the back with it's rapier, causing him to grunt again and instinctively lower his shield. The bolt from the crossbow hit him directly in the chest and he everyone watched with horror as he suddenly fell to his knees.

Nori, he was previously angry at the human, rushed to the fallen knight's aid and roared as he swung his Bramd at the closest gargoyle with a rapier. It screeched as the massive hammer was swung downwards over it's head and it fell to the ground with a slam. Before it could get up however, the furious Dwarf swung his weapon downwards again, completely crushing it. When it' was hit and it's bones snapped, the red glow faded from it's eyes, indicating it's death.

The second gargoyle with a rapier snarled as it lowered down to their level to attack the Dwarf with braided hair, but Bombur rushed forward with the two Orc swords he got from the battle in Mirkwood. He let out his own battle cry as he slashed the dark weapons at the monster, making it screech in pain. It whipped around to stab the overweight Dwarf, but Bilbo quickly slashed at it's back with Sting. The final slash from the sword made the gargoyle screech one last time before it fell over the skybridge and began to fall to the ground below.

The monster with the crossbow growled as it took aim to shoot again, Bombur sacrificed one of his swords by throwing it at the creature like a throwing knife. The sword spun through the air before the blade plunged into the gargoyle's head. It didn't even let out a screech as it went limp in the air and fell to the ground below.

Now that the gargoyles were dead, Thorin and his company turned to look at the knight, who was still on his knees and bleeding heavily. The human slowly looked up at everyone before he fell down completely. Balin slowly walked forward and crouched down in front of the fallen human at that moment. He sighed quietly before he rested his hand on the knight's neck to check for a pulse.

"Is he alright?" Thorin Oakenshield questioned with a straight face.

Even though the knight killed four people in cold blood, they actually didn't want him to die. They didn't agree with his reasoning, but they couldn't deny that he did have good intentions in mind.

"I'm afraid he's… not with us anymore." the white bearded Dwarf informed everyone with a sad frown and he slowly stood up.

Everyone stared at the corpse in front of them with mixed expressions. Some looked on sadly while others looked at the body with respect. What surprised everyone however was that after a few seconds, the dead body began to be covered in a blue-green mist. When the lifeless body was completely covered in the mist, it faded away, leaving behind a large bloodstain on the floor. No one knew exactly what happened, but standing out in the open probably wasn't a good idea.

"We should move on. There will be time to mourn when we are safe." Thorin told his company before he began to walk down the skybridge they just jumped down to.

The others didn't dare question their leader and they followed close behind the strong Dwarf. Up ahead, the company could see the platform of another tower ahead and colorful lights could be seen around it, as if guiding them there. This didn't concern them however. They were just wondering how they would get home without the help of the knight.


	7. You Died

**Kwai kwai nidobak! If any of you have noticed, I changed the image cover for this story. That other image was just a filler until this one I recently posted was ready. The image depicts the Dragon God from Demon's Souls and Smaug from the Hobbit. And yes, I did draw the image myself and I'll be posting it to my DeviantArt page soon, which is Native-Avenger. Also, this chapter will introduce one of my favorite characters from Demon's Souls. And lastly, sorry for the long wait. I have been very busy with schoolwork lately and when I do have free time, I've been playing Dark Souls 2. Praise the Sun! Anyway, I think I've covered just about everything; remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 7: You Died

In the Tower of Latria, it was still night and the various gargoyles of the towers were patrolling the dark sky. Back at the original tower with the piece of Archstone, a blue-green mist rose up in front of the magical stone. The mist formed a humanoid shape and the knight himself appeared.

Unlike before, there was an unnatural aura light emitting from him and he wasn't making a single sound. He wasn't even breathing. This was because the knight was in fact dead; he was in his soul form. This happened whenever he was killed, which actually happened often.

While in this form, the armored human's attacks were slightly more powerful, but he was more vulnerable to attacks himself and he always lost a part of his memory.

The dead knight firmly held his sword and shield as he looked ahead at the skybridge ahead of him. All of the souls he's collected recently were now lost and the only way he could get them back was to get back to the place he died and touch his bloodstain.

With this knowledge in mind, the armored spirit began to walk down the skybridge towards the next tower, not making a single sound as he went. He would have to fight all of the gargoyles by himself now in order to get to his bloodstain.

* * *

Selen Vinland glared at the Meat Cleaver Black Phantom ahead of her. It hadn't noticed her yet, but she knew she it wouldn't take long for it to find her. She took a deep breath before she suddenly charged towards the evil soul, causing the water below her to splash from her heavy footfalls.

The Black Phantom quickly spun around quickly, but before it could attack, the holy knight slashed her almost see-through sword in a horizontal swing. As Blind sliced through the dark soul, red ectoplasm splattered out of the wound.

The holy knight tried to slash at the spirit again, but it suddenly dodged and rolled away. Her eyes widened as the Black Phantom rolled through the water as if there wasn't any water there at all. And to top it all off, she was starting to feel the effects of the poison swamp course through her body.

'I have to end this fight quickly.' she thought hastily to herself as she held Blind in both hands.

The Meat Cleaver Black Phantom rushed forward suddenly and swung It's huge blade downwards to try to slice the woman in half, but Selen slowly sprinted to the side. The blade missed her, but the sheer force of the weapon hitting the water and ground caused her to fall over.

Before she could drown, Selen stood up as fast as she could and gasped as she breathed in the Valley's tainted air. She then looked over at the Black Phantom to see it preparing to swing it's Meat Cleaver at her again. Before it could go through with it's attack however, the holy knight slashed Blind at the Black Phantom multiple times. She didn't dare give the deceased warrior a chance to retaliate.

Red ectoplasm splattered out of the Meat Cleaver Black Phantom's wounds as it was attacked and it suddenly rolled away before the holy knight could deliver the killing blow. Selen could feel her heart pumping heavily as she firmly held her sword and she swung the blade in an upwards motion as the evil Phantom charged towards her again.

The blade slashed diagonally across the Black Phantom's chest and it suddenly stiffed as another cloud of red ectoplasm splattered out of it's ghostly body. At that moment, the Meat Cleaver Black Phantom fell to it's knees and faded away before it could fully fall to the ground.

Just before it fully disappeared however, Selen saw something drop into the water under it. She quickly bent down and reached her freehand into the poisonous water. She felt her bare fingertips touch something stiff within the mud and pulled it out of the water.

Without even looking at what she just retrieved, the holy knight whirled around and sprinted towards the closest island. She could feel the poison burning through her body and she knew that she didn't have much time left. She felt her boots sink into the mud with each step and the water splashed around her as she sprinted.

When Selen Vinland finally reached the land, she dropped the item she took from the Black Phantom and with her now freehand, she pulled out her talisman of God. With some concentration, she cast the Miracle, Cure. As the holy light flashed and faded away, the poison immediately left her body.

With a sigh of relief, the holy knight tucked away her talisman and bent down. She scooped the object off of the ground and held it up so she could get a better look at it. She smiled lightly when she saw that she was holding a stone that was as black as night. She had acquired a Black Eye Stone.

'Thank God I found this thing. Hopefully Sage Freke will use this evil object for good.' she thought to herself as she carefully placed the stone into one of her pouches.

Now that she had taken what she was searching for, the holy knight carefully and quickly rushed back to the direction she came from. She outran the strange jellyfish monsters within the water and killed any soul-starved men that tried to attack her. They were so weak from the plague and disease, it merely took a swing or two of her sword, Blind, to bring them down.

It didn't take Selen long to make it back to the Archstone within the dark cave she came from. As she silently approached the glowing stone, she rested her hand on the hilt of the sword and she was immediately enveloped in a blue-green fog.

Within moments, she vanished, but she reappeared in that same fog within the Nexus. No one seemed to pay much attention to her arrival, but she didn't care. Without a word, she made her way down the steps and around the column to her left. She soon spotted the old magician sitting in his usual spot. He was also reading a book of spells.

"I found your Dark Eye Stone." Selen informed as she Sage Freke, the Visionary.

Freke looked up at her and she could barely see his face because of his gray hood. She could see him smiling however, which set her at ease.

"I knew you would be successful. You have a lot of potential for greatness. Now then, could you hand me the stone?" the old man requested as he slowly held his hand out.

The holy knight nodded to him before she gently placed the evil stone into his gloved hand. His smile seemed to widen as he pulled his hand back and examined the stone. He then rested it on the ground next to him and pulled some kind of dagger out of his robes. He carefully held the weapon by the blade before he held it up for Selen to take.

"You may have this. It is Geri's Stiletto." the old magician offered her.

"Geri? Isn't he that famous inventor from Yormedaar?" the holy knight asked with surprise in her voice as she very gently gripped the stiletto's hilt with her left hand and lifted it up so she could get a closer look at the weapon.

"Yes, he is. He and I are good friends, actually. He made this stiletto for me many years ago. Whenever the bladeless tip pierces into something with a soul, it absorbs it's mana and transfers that magical energy into the one wielding the stiletto. Even though you aren't a magician, you still need to have mana in order to cast Miracles, correct?" Sage Freke spoke while he snatched up the Black Eye Stone and held it in both hands.

"Yes… mana is a requirement." Selen murmured softly. "Thank you for this gift. You… aren't as bad as the church says you are." she told him with a thankful tone of voice.

"You are welcome, my dear. Now then, I would like some time to myself." Sage Freke, the Visionary said politely, his smile never fading.

"Very well. Thanks again." the holy knight replied quietly with another nod.

With her task completed, Selen turned around on her heels and walked away. With her head lowered, she made her way back to the corner she was resting at in the first place and sat down with her back against the stone wall. And now she was back to square one; wondering just what the hell she was going to do with her life.

* * *

Back at the Tower of Latria, Thorin Oakenshield was leading the single Bilbo and the other twelve Dwarves down one of the area's many skybridges. The group approached a platform that was round in shape.

There were bodies of the deceased littering the ground a there were splatters of blood here and there. There were also orbs that were glowing various colors on the floor, keeping the area around the platform lit. What caught the group's attention however, was a cage that was only just big enough to hold a person.

There was in fact a man in this cage and this person appeared to be some kind of knight, but his armor was very different from the knight the group was familiar with. The armor this human was wearing was pitch black and covered the human's entire body. Even the eye visor was shadowed so much that his eyes weren't visible. Claw-like spikes were also sticking out of the shoulder plates and two serrated spikes were sticking straight out of the top of the helmet. A parrying dagger could be seen in the human's left hand and he was holding a shotel in his right hand. The sickle-like sword was very intimidating and it looked as sharp as a razor.

As the company approached the caged human, they all noticed that the air around this man was almost ice cold. This cold seemed to be very unnatural, but the group did their best to ignore it. Thorin walked right up to the human and was about to greet him, but the human spoke first.

"Are you here to fight the Demons?" the black knight questioned with a very dry and deep sounding voice.

This knight's voice sent a shiver up everyone's spines. Even Thorin Oakenshield was a little shaken by the human's voice. And when the human spoke, a small wave of cold air brushed past the Dwarf's face. It was as if this human's breath was cold instead of warm.

"If so, then help me escape this place. I am on your side. I have come to face the Demons." the black knight stated with that same foreboding voice.

Everyone looked at one another at that moment. Something about this human made them all uneased, but the thought of leaving someone in a cage to die didn't sit well with them. The Dwarf leader mentally sighed before he addressed this mysterious man.

"Before I let you out, I would like to know what your name is and why you were imprisoned here." Thorin replied sternly as he looked into the human's visor, but only saw blackness.

"Who I am does not matter. I was imprisoned by these gargoyles however for fighting the Demons." the black knight answered calmly.

Thorin Oakenshield didn't like that the human had refused to give him his name, but after some thought, he came to a decision. He reached his freehand forward, grabbed onto one of the cage's metal bars, and pulled it open. The hinges were very rusty and it took him a second or two to open it, but once the cage was fully open, the Dwarf cautiously stepped back and eyed the mysterious knight.

Without a word, the black knight stepped out of the cage and gingerly walked onto the platform that the Dwarves were on. Some of the Dwarves stiffened as they stared at the sickle-like weapon he was holding. Bombur, the obese Dwarf with the braided mustache, opened his mouth to say something, but the knight quickly cut him off.

"Thank you. I will remember this. I am certain… we will meet again." the black knight spoke darkly before he walked right past the group and towards the skybridge the group came from.

Within moments, the knight seemed to disappear into the darkness of the knight. The Dwarves looked at one another with uneased expressions until Bilbo spoke up.

"What should we do now?" the Hobbit questioned, trying to forget about the eerie conversation they just had.

"Maybe he left something in his cell. Something to get us out of this place and back to Mirkwood." Glóin, the Dwarf with the thick reddish-brown beard, commented as he walked into the cage the black knight was just in.

Immediately after the Dwarf stepped into the cage, the door closed behind him, firmly trapping him inside. Before anyone could reopen the cage however, the thick chain that was suspending the cage in the air began to lower the cage towards the ground below.

"Glóin!" Bombur shouted with wide eyes as everyone looked over the platform's edge and watched as the cage disappeared into the darkness.

As this happened, another empty cage rose up and slowed to a stop right next to where the first cage used to be.

"I'm alright! I'm in a swamp of some kind!" their friend yelled back from somewhere below them.

"Alright, we're coming down one at a time." Thorin Oakenshield informed everyone with a stern expression as he walked over to the new cage and stepped inside.

As soon as he did, the cage door closed and the chain holding the cage in the air commenced to send him downwards. The others looked at one another as their leader disappeared into the night too and the first cage rose back up, empty.

One by one, the Dwarves and Bilbo made their way into the cages and down towards the ground. Once they were all at ground level, everyone in the group looked around their surroundings. They were all standing in knee-deep water that was a reddish pink color. Thankfully, the water wasn't poisonous or anything. There were some wooden platforms ahead of them and some strange, pink colored tentacles slithering out of the water at a slow pace, but none of them made an attempt on the group's lives.

"Well, this is new." Fili commented loudly as he stared at a rather thick tentacle that was slowly wrapping around a stone column a little ways away from them.

"New or not, this is a hostile land. I want everyone to keep your guard up and kill anything that poses a threat." Thorin ordered sternly, receiving understanding nods from the others.

After he said that, Oakenshield led the Dwarves and Bilbo through the murky water and towards a wooden staircase ahead of them. None of them knew what dangers this area would offer, but whatever it was, they'd be ready.

* * *

Within the forests of Middle-Earth, the old tombs of Nazgûl could be seen around some dead trees. Gandalf himself could be seen cautiously wandering around the ruined halls of the stronghold with his staff at the ready. A magical light could be seen on the end of his staff.

The robed wizard's aged eyes darted around the area in front of him as he walked down a particularly dark hallway. He was trying to avoid any and all confrontations with anything hostile that might have inhabited the ruins. The last thing he wanted was to get into an unneeded battle with a bunch of brutes.

As Gandalf began to near the end of the hallway, he spotted to things that caught his interest. The first was that he couldn't go any further because some ruble was in the way. The second was a set of glowing blue symbols on the floor. The old wizard raised an eyebrow under his pointed hat as he slowly approached the symbols. At first, he thought the symbols were written in Dark Speech, but after he closely looked at them, he realized that he has never seen symbols like those before.

Curiously, he gently tapped the bottom of his staff on the symbols, but they slowly faded away when he did. With a sigh, he raised his head, only for a small bird to suddenly fly past his face, causing him to flinch in surprise.

Gandalf quickly spun around to see where the bird was going, but his tense muscles relaxed when he saw his good friend, Radagast the Brown, standing not three feet away from him.

"Oh, it's you." the gray robed wizard spoke heavy as his started heart pounded in his chest

The wizard clad in brown robes didn't flinch from the other wizards words. His dark blue eyes merely darted around the area they were in.

"Why am I here, Gandalf?" the brown robed wizard asked quietly, almost at a whisper.

Immediately after he asked that, Redagast raised his hat, revealing a bird's next on his head. When he did that, the bird that flew past Gandalf earlier landed on the nest and he rested his brown hat over his head again.

"This is not a nice place to meet." he added after he placed his hat over the bird's nest.

"No, it is not." the wizard dressed in gray robes admitted.

With that said, Gandalf the Gray led his good friend back down the hallway and towards the tomb's exit. None of them noticed however that where the strange symbols used to be, a blue mist was rising out of the ground. And that blue mist began to form into the shape of a humanoid.

"These are dark spells, Gandalf. Old and full of hate. Who's buried here?" Radagast questioned as he stepped out of the hallway and into a square shaped room with a staircase leading upwards.

"If he had a name, it's long since been lost. He would've been known only as the servant of evil. One of a number. One of nine." Gandalf explained as he too stepped out of the hall and he shined his light around the room.

"Why now, Gandalf? I don't understand." the old man in brown asked next with a confused expression while they made their way out of the ruins and outside.

"The Ringwraiths have been summoned to Dol Guldur." the wizard donned in gray answered grimly with a heavy frown behind his thick beard.

"But it cannot be the Necromancer. A human sorcerer could not summon such evil." Radagast rationalized, but worry could be heard in his voice.

"Who said it was human? The nine only answer to one master. We've been blind, Radagast. And in our blindness, the enemy has returned. He is summoning his servants. Azog, the Defiler is no ordinary hunter. He is a commander, a commander of legions. The enemy is preparing for war. It will begin in the east. His mind is set upon the mountain." Gandalf explained in detail.

At that moment, Gandalf the Gray turned away from his companion and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" the brown wizard questioned with sudden panic.

"To rejoin the others." Gandalf replied simply as he walked.

"Gandalf!" Radagast called out as he commenced to follow his taller friend.

"I started this, I cannot forsake them. They are in grave danger." the wizard donned in gray stated as he suddenly stopped and spun around to look at the other wizard.

"If what you say is true, the world is in grave danger. The power in that fortress will only grow stronger." Radagast quickly replied with dread in his voice.

"You want me to cast my friends aside." Gandalf spoke more as a statement than a question.

Before his friend could reply to that question, the two wizards heard the sound of several footsteps quickly approaching them. All of a sudden, a dozen or so Orcs sprinted out of the wilderness around them and snarled at them. Each of the Orcs were armed to the teeth and a certain lust for blood could be seen in their eyes.

"Did they know we were here?" Radagast mumbled to himself as the two wizards firmly held their staves.

Before either side could make the first attack, a ghostly human wearing dark leather armor rushed past the two wizards. This man was also wearing a mask that concealed his lower face, but his jaw length dark hair could be seen clearly. A heater shield could be seen strapped to his back and he was holding a large gardening scythe in both hands. What made this man unique however was that his whole body was glowing light blue. His movements were also deathly silent; his footsteps weren't even producing sound.

The Blue Phantom rushed towards the partially startled Orcs and he slashed his scythe through the closest one, leaving behind a horizontal gash through it's torso. The Orc cried out in pain, but quickly jumped away as the ghostly warrior swung his blade again.

"Gor-do! (Kill him!)" an Orc with a two handed axe snarled as it pointed at the Blue Phantom.

The scythe wielding apparition immediately turned to look at the Orc who just spoke and charged. Many of the other soldiers tried to stop the ghostly man, but they were cut down when Gandalf and Radagast fired magical fireballs from their staves, hitting the unsuspecting Orcs.

When the Blue Phantom was close enough to the Orc leader, he raised his scythe over his shoulder and swung it in a diagonal swipe. The muscular Orc growled in pain as black blood oozed out of hit's wound, but it quickly ducked under another swipe from the phantom and it slashed it's axe across the ghost's right leg.

Blue ectoplasm splattered out of the wound, but the Phantom simply shrugged off the attack and brought his scythe downward. The tool's large blade pierced through the Orc's head and it went stiff as the life drained out of it's dark eyes.

Once the Orc leader was dead, the Blue Phantom focused his attention on the rest of the Orcs. He swung his scythe at any Orc that the two wizards didn't hit with fireballs and within moments, all of the Orcs lied on the ground in pools of their own black blood.

At that moment, the Blue Phantom slowly approached the two wizards. He stopped however when he noticed that Gandalf and Radagast were still holding their staves in a battle-ready manner. To show them that he meant no harm, he lowered his upper body and bowed respectively to the two wizards.

The two old men looked at one another before they looked back as at the ghostly man. They watched as he slowly raised his body again and simply watched them. They then chose to relaxed their tense muscles.

"My, this is an interesting discovery." Gandalf commented as he looked at the Blue Phantom with a smile behind his thick, gray beard.

Neither he nor Radagast had any idea where this Blue Phantom came from, but they were happy that he was at least friendly and he was willing to help them in battle. But they now had even more unanswered questions.


	8. Bringer of Silence

**Kwai kwai nidobak! I'm glad that I was finally able to get a Blue Phantom in this story. You can all be sure that there will be more Blue Phantoms featured in this story. And one last thing, that black knight from the previous chapter will have a very big role in this chapter. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 8: Bringer of Silence

Within the world of Middle-Earth, Gandalf, Radagast, and their Blue Phantom ally were walking together down a dirt path in a forest near Mirkwood. The two wizards mostly talked about their discovery back at the old tombs of Nazgûl. The Blue Phantom stayed deathly silent and walked by the gray robed wizard's side while he firmly held he scythe.

After a few hours of walking however, the two wizards began to glance at the ghostly warrior more and more. They were very much interested in what and who this Phantom was exactly. Mentally, they both realized that this wasn't an ordinary ghost, nor was he a wraith. He was something completely different.

"Why, I don't believe we've gotten the chance to introduce ourselves yet. My name is Gandalf the Grey." the gray bearded wizard introduced warmly as he looked at the Blue Phantom.

"And I'm Radagast the Brown. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." the other wizard greeted with a big smile.

The Blue Phantom simply nodded as his blue eyes scanned the area around them. Other than that, it seemed like he wasn't paying much attention to them. The two old men noticed this, but that didn't deter them.

"Do you happen to have a name?" Gandalf questioned curiously, wanting to see if he could get the mysterious spirit talking.

Instead of answering properly however, the Blue Phantom simply shook his head, no. In all honestly, names didn't really concern him. The two wizards obviously weren't pleased with this response, but the wizard in gray robes decided to ask a different kind of question.

"Are you mute, by chance?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering if that was the reason why the Phantom hadn't spoken a word so far.

"I have a voice… I just choose not to use it too much." the Blue Phantom answered quietly with an echoing voice.

"Why is that?" Gandalf asked next as he frowned slightly.

"I have no reason to speak… usually." the ghostly warrior stated simply as he looked straight ahead of them, but his unnatural blue eyes kept darting around, looking for possible danger.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why are you following us?" Radagast asked quickly before he took off his hat to allow some birds to land on the bird's nest on his head; he then placed his hat over his head again.

"You summoned me when you touched my summon sign. My sole purpose here is to protect you." the Blue Phantom answered, referring to Gandalf.

"Why did you leave behind a summon sign?" the gray wizard inquired curiously, honestly wanting to know.

"I want to live again…" the scythe wielding Phantom answered quietly before he went silent.

Gandalf got the feeling that the Blue Phantom wasn't going to speak anymore and he resisted the urge to sigh. He was pleased that he was able to get some information out of the Bleu Phantom however, but he now had much more questions he wanted to ask. One of the main things he was wondering was what did the ghostly warrior mean by "I want to live again?"

"What are we going to do with him, Gandalf?" Radagast whispered quietly into the taller wizard's ear, hoping that the spirit wouldn't hear him.

Despite his quiet voice however, the Blue Phantom did in fact hear the brown robed wizard. He just didn't care enough to voice it.

"Simple, we're going to bring him with us. There is strength in numbers, after all." the wizard clad in gray answered as he looked at his friend with a cheeky smile.

Radagast the Brown just nodded, accepting this answer. The group of three then became quiet and wordlessly traveled down the dirt path they were taking. Even through it didn't look it, each of them had various thoughts running through their heads. While the two wizards were thinking about all the questions they had, the Blue Phantom solely focused on their surroundings. Even if he didn't know these two old men, he was going to guard them with his life. That was the code of the Blue and he would follow that code no matter what.

* * *

In the Tower of Latria, the ghostly knight was making his way down one of the many skybridges. Since he was in Soul Form, his armor didn't clank when he moved and he wasn't even breathing because he didn't have to. Ever since he "revived" back at the Archstone, he's been fighting his way through gargoyles. He also came across several man-centipedes, which caught him off guard. No matter the creature, he slayed anything that got in his way.

The knight stopped when he reached the end of the skybridge to see that it was destroyed. Below him however, was another skybridge, the place where he last died. He quickly noticed a large bloodstain on the ground and slowly approached it. As soon as his armored boot stepped on the blood, the blood faded into a blue-green mist and was absorbed into the knight. As this happened, he felt all the souls that he lost when he died return to him. He was still in Soul Form however.

'At least I have my souls back.' the armored man thought to himself before he jumped down onto the skybridge below.

The knight landed the stonework without making a single sound despite his heavy armor, and stood up straight. He then looked to his right and noticed a platform close by and a cage. With his shield held up in case he was attacked, he made his way over to the platform and walked into the cage. Something in the back of his mind told him that doing this would be beneficial.

As soon as he stepped into the cage, the door slowly closed and the cage began to descend downwards. He frantically looked around as he went down and he noticed pinkish-red water below.

After awhile of this, the cage lowered into the water and stopped about knee-deep. After that, the cage door slowly opened again. With his shield raised, he cautiously stepped out of the cage and looked at the surreal environment he was in. The first thing he noticed was a few dead man-centipedes not too far away. That's when he knew that he wasn't too far behind the Dwarves.

'I wonder what they'll think when they see me as a ghost.' the armored man thought to himself with a small smile behind his helmet.

With this thought in mind, the knight trudged his way through the murky water. The easiest way for him to find the Dwarves would be to follow the dead bodies.

* * *

Thorin and his company were walking on a wooden platform that was over the murky swamp of Latria. Everyone who had a weapon stayed in the front while the rest stayed in the back of the group. Thorin Oakenshield was leading the group and he kept his sword at the ready at all times.

While they were down in the swampy area, the Dwarves and lone Hobbit discovered a very disturbing enemy that none of them have ever seen before. The creatures they came across were like giant, human sized centipedes, but they had a very mortifying feature. Human faces replaced the creatures' mandibles and other human faces were on the monsters' backs.

As the group walked, they spotted one of the creatures ahead. Luckily, the man-centipede was looking away from the group and didn't notice them yet. Nori suddenly charged forward however and before the monster could turn around to look at them, the strong Dwarf crushed the large insect with his Bramd.

This seemed to be a pattern. Whenever the group passed a man-centipede, Nori or Thorin would kill it and the group would move on. Even if the monsters were easy to dispatch, it still made the group very uneased to see such creatures.

'There's no way that these things are natural.' Bilbo thought to himself as they passed a recently killed man-centipede.

After awhile of traveling, the wooden walkway they were on led the group to solid ground. There was a semi-narrow passage between two large rocks and Thorin decided to lead them through it. When they passed the two rather large rocks, the group noticed a dirt path leading upwards to their left. Cautiously, they made their way up the path with their weapons constantly at the ready.

After a bit of walking, the group heard the sound of a bell being rung. Thorin immediately held his fist up to stop the group. Without any of them speaking a word, they all listened carefully to hear the bell being rung again. The Dwarf leader narrowed his eyes as he tried to peer into the darkness ahead of them.

Soon enough, a red and black silhouette with a glowing red aura stepped out of the darkness and slowly walked towards them. The humanoid creature was in fact a Black Phantom, but it was not human by any means. The creature had clawed hands and was holding a lamp with a bell attached to it in it's right hand. The creature was wearing dark robes and it's head resembled an octopus with tentacles hanging limp around it's neck and around it's mouth.

The creature stopped walking suddenly and slowly looked up at the thirteen Dwarves and lone Hobbit. It suddenly raised it's two arms in the air, causing the bell to ring multiple times, before it quickly brought it's arms down again. This caused a spear of pure light to shoot out of it's arms and speedily fly towards the group.

"Get down!" Thorin shouted suddenly before everyone in the group leapt to the ground and the Soul Ray flew over their heads.

Before the group could even get up again, the inhuman Black Phantom rose it's arms again to caste another spell. The Dwarves scuffled to their feet as fast as they could, but it was too late. The monster quickly lowered it's arms and shot a second Soul Ray at them.

The knight of Boletaria pushed past the Dwarves seemingly out of nowhere at that moment and he rose his Dark Silver Shield. The ray of light smashed into the ghost's shield, but the armored man didn't even seem fazed by the attack.

Once the spell connected, the knight lowered his shield and sprinted towards the abomination. Thorin and the others watched with amazed expressions as the knight they watched die swing his sword at the Black Phantom, causing a mist of red ectoplasm to splatter out of the monster.

The Dwarves looked at one another before they charged forward to help their only ally in the Tower of Latria. The Black Phantom flinched as Thorin Oakenshield stabbed his sword into it's lower side. It quickly raised it's hands to cast another spell, but the armored human quickly swung his knight sword, affectively decapitating the monster.

Before it's severed octopus-like head even hit the ground, the Black Phantom disappeared in a blood red mist. When it was fully gone, the Dwarves stepped back to look at the knight with mixed expressions. Some of them were relieved while others were a little more suspicious. The fact that he was in Soul Form didn't really help.

"Are you… a ghost, sir?" Bilbo asked with a mix of confusion and child-like curiosity.

"That's one way to put it, yes." the ghostly knight answered with an echoing voice that sent chills down the Hobbit's spine.

"How did you come back? We saw you die." Thorin Oakenshield said more as a demand than a question as he walked over to the deceased human.

"It's a gift I have… and a curse. Whenever I am killed, I return as a ghost-like manifestation and my strength is halved." the knight explained calmly as he turned to look at the Dwarf.

"You say that as if you've died multiple times." Thorin stated with a cold frown.

"That's because I have… many times. I can return to human form by either slaying a demon, helping another as a Blue Phantom, or by crushing a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes. This happens to me because I am bound to the Nexus, the place we were at before we came to Latria." the armored man informed as he stared right into the Dwarf leader's eyes through his helmet's eye holes.

"I've heard stranger tales. At least you're not being revived by a wraith." Kili commented quietly with a slight shrug.

"True, but my… 'revival' comes with a price. Like I said, I lose my strength, but I also lose something very important to me." the ghostly human mumbled as he looked away from the company of Dwarves.

"And what would that be, exactly?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf, questioned with honest curiosity, but he was also hesitant.

For a moment, there was silence. The Dwarves and Bilbo looked at one another and were about to change the subject, but the knight finally answered.

"My memories… every time I die, I lose my memories. I… remember having a loving mother and father, but I do not recall their faces or their names. I can't remember my childhood or if I had a spouse or not." the knight spoke softly before he slowly looked at the group again. "I can't even remember my own name…" he added with slight frustration in his voice.

The group of fourteen was rather shocked by this new information. None of them knew that such a curse could exist, at least in that sense. Discluding Thorin Oakenshield, the group of Dwarves and Bilbo looked at the ghostly man with sympathetic expressions.

"Let's just keep moving. We've wasted enough time and I'm assuming you wish to return to your own world." the armored human spoke all of a sudden before he turned around and began to head up the dirt path.

Without uttering a word, the others followed close behind him and Thorin walked by the knight's side. After a bit of walking, the group noticed that the path led to a large stone walkway that had a few man-centipedes wandering around. Luckily, the Dwarves had learned the creatures' attack patterns and with the help of the knight, they were able to quickly dispatch them.

When all the monsters were dead, the group continued their trek down the stone walkway, which led to a cliff. The path continued onto another skybridge and they could see another tower in the distance. They could clearly see a yellow beam of magical energy at the top of the tower.

'I hope that there aren't any defenseless people at this one.' Bilbo thought to himself as he and the others crossed the skybridge two at a time.

Within moments, the company of Dwarves, the Hobbit, and the Boletarian knight reached the tower and saw and elevator leading upwards. Because the elevator was so small, only four of them could go up at a time. Once they were all at the top of the tower however, the group noticed that just like the last tower with such a magical beam of light, there were four unarmed prisoners around the beam with their arms raised, as if they were braising the beam. Upon seeing this, the Dwarves and Bilbo felt their hearts sink.

"Do we really have to kill them?" Fili asked uncomfortably as one or two of the prisoners moaned in what seemed like agony.

"Yes. There is no other way." the knight answered grimly as he placed his shield on his back and held his sword in both hands. "If it makes you all feel better, I'll do it. There's no need to add unneeded guilt to your conscience." he added with a quick glance at the others.

"Just make it quick, please." Balin sighed heavily as he and many of the others looked away.

The ghostly human nodded before he slowly walked forward and stabbed his sword through one of the prisoners' backs, causing blood to splatter out of it's stomach. When the poor prisoner stopped moving, he kicked it off of his sword and did the same to the one to his left. This continued until he killed the fourth and final prisoner. As he did this, many of the Dwarves made a quick prayer for the prisoners.

When the last prisoner died, the group quickly looked over at the main tower with the heart-like object hanging off of it. The last of the large chains supporting it suddenly snapped and the strange thing quickly slid downwards out of view. There was suddenly a booming crash that caused the very earth to tremble. Bilbo gasped as he lost his footing, but Bombur, the obese Dwarf, quickly caught him and gripped his shoulder for support.

When the trembling finally ended, they all began to mumble to themselves. None of them were really sure what just happened or what they should do next.

"I think we should head back to that tower." the knight murmured, but his echoing voice made it easy to hear him.

"I think so too. Wasn't that weird sack thing blocking the upper levels?" Balin, the white bearded Dwarf, commented as they all stared at the tower.

"Yes, it was. Alright, we're heading back to that tower." Thorin stated sternly before he turned towards the skybridge to his left and walked towards it.

The others soon followed suit and walked along the skybridge. The path abruptly ended however because the second half of the bridge was destroyed. When they looked down however, they saw that one of the first platforms they were on when they first arrived was right below them.

"Huh, we went in a giant circle." Bilbo commented quietly as the knight and Bombur jumped down to the platform below.

After they dropped down onto the platform below, the rest of the group hopped down and landed on the stone platform. When they were all down there, the group made their way back towards the main tower. They were all surprised however when they came across some man-centipedes on the skybridges. Since it wasn't exactly a good time to be questioning why the monsters were there, the Dwarves and the knight just killed whatever creature that they came across.

Thorin and the knight lead the company of Dwarves and Bilbo into the main tower when they reached it and they turned left to climb the spiral staircase. They could all hear the wing beats of nearby gargoyles around them, but none of them decided to attack.

When they reached the level with the skybridge that the group took when they first arrived, they noticed that the heart-like thing was no longer blocking their path. Instead, they could see another spiral staircase. This one didn't have any railings and there was nothing to protect them from falling, unlike the first staircase. Because of this, the group had to travel up the stairs one at a time. The knight decided to lead them up and he kept his Dark Silver Shield up at all times. Dying again was not something he wanted to do.

Over time, the stairs led them into a tunnel-like chamber and there was no longer a risk of falling below to their deaths. The tunnel eventually opened up into a semi-spacious room with an open doorway to their left. The doorway was being blocked off by a wall of fog however, which somewhat alerted the Dwarves and the lone Hobbit. What unnerved them all however, was the set of glowing green eyes within the fog wall.

"What is that?" Thorin demanded to know as he firmly held his sword and glared at the glowing eyes, which seemed to be staring directly at them with pure hate.

"That my friends… is a Demon." the knight answered grimly before he approached the fog wall.

Without saying a word, the ghostly man stepped into the fog and went through to the other side. The company of Dwarves looked at one another before they hurried after him. The only one who hesitated was Bilbo. He gently rested his left hand on his pocket where he kept his ring of invisibility as he watched his friends pass through the fog. He took a deep breath before he unsheathed his sword, Sting and stepped into the colorless fog as well.

* * *

Within the Nexus, everything was calm and everyone was minding their own business. Nothing had really changed since Selen Vinland had returned. The silence almost felt like proof that the Nexus was a peaceful haven for those who had nowhere else to go.

In front of the Archstone of the ivory queen however, the black knight appeared within the familiar blue-green mist. When the mist faded away, he stood up straight and took a few steps forward. He slowly looked around him before he made his way down the nearby steps to his left.

No one paid much attention to him as he walked and he seemed to simply be exploring the area. The people taking refuge within the Nexus were used to seeing people with their weapons always drawn, so he didn't bother them too much.

The black knight noticed a set of stone stairs that led to an upper level of the Nexus. Curiously, he made his way over to them and began to climb the steps. When he reached the top, he looked around the new floor, which was mostly empty. He did spot two people in the corner however; a man and a woman. He hypothesized that they were married judging by the wedding bands on their left ring fingers. What caught his interest however was that the male was wearing clothes that resembled that of a magician.

With this in mind, the knight in black armor slowly and casually approached the couple. They quickly noticed him and stopped their previous conversation to address him.

"Hello, stranger. Is there something we can help you with?" the magician questioned politely with a small smile.

The black knight didn't utter a word and silently took a step or two closer to the couple. The woman seemed to get a little nervous from this, but the male just looked confused.

"Are you alright, sir? Do you need help with something?" the male asked with concern in his voice.

Immediately after he asked that however, the black knight lunged forward and plunged his parrying dagger right into the man's left eye. The woman's eyes widened in horror and she was about to scream, but the silent knight quickly swung his shotel in her direction, slicing open her throat with the sickle-like blade.

The woman opened her mouth to scream in pain, but no sound came out because of her neck wound. Instead, she let out quiet gurgling and choking noises while her blood leaked out of her open wound. The black knight ignored her silent screams and focused on the magician. He watched as the life faded from the poor man's one good eye before he roughly pulled his knife out.

Without even bothering to finish off the woman, the black knight walked away without a word. He could clearly hear her stumbling around however and the sound of her falling down the staircase he came from could be heard. A scream of horror could then be heard in the lower section of the Nexus, but he simply ignored it.

The black knight casually made his way behind a stone column and walked into a dark corner. He casually turned around and leaned his back against the wall. At that moment, he finally sheathed his weapons, knowing that he wouldn't need them for now.


End file.
